Escape
by malko050987
Summary: PostOotP AU. Something has changed drastically in the Dursley household. Will Harry and his new friend be able to escape? And what will he do after that?
1. Chapter One

**Escape**

by malko050987

**Chapter One**

Disclaimer: I don't own Harry Potter or anything related.

A/N: Thanks to Ham, LunaMoon224 and Insecurity for betaing this for me.

Harry watched as the Order members walked away. He was touched by their actions, but didn't like the look on Vernon's face. Once all magical people were out of his sight, Vernon turned to Harry.

"Well? What are you waiting for, boy? Get in the car!" Uncle Vernon glared at Harry as he put his trunk in the booth. Hedwig was flying home but her cage was in the trunk. He barely had time to enter the car before his uncle drove off. Harry sat quietly in the backseat, too lost in thought to pay attention to his Uncle's muttering. His Aunt Petunia was glaring at him in the side mirror, but he didn't care. There was too much pain in his chest; too much anguish in his heart for him to be influenced by one of his aunt's glares.

He did notice that he was alone in the back of the car, but chalked it off to Dudley being himself and preferring to spend time in the park, tormenting little children. After all, why should Petunia force her little Diddykins to travel all the way to London to pick up a freak?

"That freak thinks he can do that to me!" grumbled Vernon. Harry's eyes shot to him the moment he heard the word freak, and a small ball of dread made itself felt in his stomach. This was not going to end well.

"Telling me what to do... ha! I'll show them."

Vernon's hands were gripping the steering wheel tightly, his knuckles white, and what Harry could see of his face was slowly turning purple. He made himself appear small on his seat, hoping that the trip would end soon, but at the same time dreading that end. The countryside flew past the window, but none of the car's passengers paid attention to it. Petunia was busy yelling at Vernon to not kill her, and Harry was too lost in thought to care about their speed.

With a screech and a smell of burnt tires, Vernon stopped the car in front of Number Four, Privet Drive. Harry took his trunk and started dragging it inside the house, again lost in thought. That was why he was startled when somebody took his trunk from his hand, while another hand grabbed his neck, pinning him to the wall.

"Listen to me, and listen to me well, boy," Uncle Vernon growled. "I give you food; I give you a place to stay and clothes to wear. Nobody else gave you that, and NOBODY HAS THE RIGHT TO TELL ME WHAT I DO IN MY HOUSE!" he ended in a bellow. The hand around Harry's neck was painful, and his breathing became labored because of it. "I would kick you out before you taint us even more with your... unnaturalness. But Petunia says that if you live here we are protected. You will send the letter every three days. You will stay in your room unless otherwise instructed. You will join us for meals, but I don't want to know of you the rest of the time." His fingers tightened around Harry's throat. "Do you understand me, boy?"

Harry forced himself to nod, although it was painful to move his bruised neck. He scrambled up the stairs, dragging his trunk after him, his breath coming in rasping gasps. Once inside his room he set his trunk down in its usual place, and collapsed on the bed, reaching to gently rub his aching neck. He could barely believe that his uncle had the courage to do something like that. Sure, he had been beaten before, and yelled at, and even worse. But his uncle hadn't seemed afraid of the Order's threats. They'd just made him angry. And who was the usual scapegoat in the Dursley household, if not one Harry Potter, bloody Boy-Who-Lived, local delinquent, wizarding lunatic and over-all a bad person to be around?

He chuckled grimly at the thought of his uncle being the one who got in trouble for being around Harry. Too many good people had been hurt because of that. It was about time for someone who actually deserved it to be hurt.

Fully dressed and with his hands on his bruised neck, Harry fell into a restless sleep, dreaming of Sirius hexing the Dursleys and being sent to Azkaban for it. A voice would call for Harry and somebody was screaming -

"BOY! STOP THAT RACKET OR I'LL STOP IT FOR YOU!"

Harry gasped and awoke, rolling off the bed his wand in hand before he had time to register what he was seeing.

What he saw was, of course, his room, lit by the silver starlight shining through his window. There was a dresser – battered down and with a door that wouldn't stay closed without the scotch holding it – a small desk, Hedwig's perch on his bed with the nightstand. It was all refreshingly normal and completely in the ordinary.

But someone was screaming… No, _whimpering._

Unfortunately, Harry knew exactly how that felt, having experienced it many, many times, waking up from nightmares; ones where everybody around him died; where everybody abandoned him; where they chased him away, saying he was a freak, something that should be put down.

Those nightmares had stopped a long time ago, mostly. Now the nightmares contained Sirius and Cedric, and the Department of Mysteries.

He crept to the door and opened it slightly, just in time to see the door to the senior Dursley's bedroom open and Vernon stomp out. He immediately shut the door and hid behind it. If Vernon was coming in there, he was in for a nasty surprise. Harry would obey Vernon's rules, but he was _not_ going to become a punching bag. Not again.

A door creaked open, and for a moment Harry thought his ears were deceiving him. Was Vernon _yelling_ at Dudley?

He stood there, stunned, listening to Vernon's mostly incoherent shouts, until the man decided he was again ready for sleep and went back to his room. Harry sprawled on his bed, thoughts of sleep gone from his head.

Vernon had yelled at Dudley. He'd heard "freak" and "disgrace" used quite often in Vernon's rant, so something pretty bad had happened to Dudley. But the question was what? He couldn't be a wizard, Harry was sure he'd have known, even if it was under the form of accidental magic during one of Dudley's tantrums. What else could make his parents be angry with Dudley this much? What had Dudley done?

His musings were interrupted by a noise on the stairs – there was one he's gotten used to jumping, because it creaked – and he tip-toed to his door, easing it open. He was just in time to see a figure open Dudley's room, and slip inside. From what Harry could see, it was almost as thin as he was, and the clothes hung loosely on the frame of the figure, which was taller than Harry.

A moment later, the figure turned to close the door behind him, and Harry gasped. Under filthy blond hair was a face he knew very well; a face that had filled his childhood with pain and fear.

But Dudley Dursley looked very different. His cheeks were sunken in, his eyes were ringed with black, his lips were cracked, and from what Harry could see, his hands were trembling on the small piece of bread he had taken from the kitchen downstairs.

Harry frowned for a second, thinking what could have brought such a change in Dudley. The look in the boy's eyes was disturbingly familiar. He'd seen it in his own eyes. The look of somebody who was close to snapping, close to giving up, but couldn't. Yes, Harry knew that look. He also knew how it felt to wait until everybody was asleep to sneak into the kitchen to get something to eat, no matter what, only to make the pain in his belly stop.

Looking at Dudley's gaunt face, and thin figure, he shuddered at the thought of what the fat boy had gone through to get to this point.

"H-Harry?" his voice was hoarse, and Harry could barely hear the words. "Y-You won't t-tell?" The hand holding the piece of bread was shaking even more, Harry saw, and Dudley's eyes were desperate. What had gotten the boy to this stage? Not even the Dursleys were that bad, were they?

He decided that he'd find out tomorrow. Dudley looked about ready to collapse, and Harry didn't want Vernon to wake up again. "I won't tell, Dudley," he whispered, and watched as Dudley retreated into his room.

He sighed and sat on his bed, pondering the events that had taken place. Hedwig chose that moment to come back from her hunt, and she perched on his shoulder, proudly offering him a mouse. He smiled at her and took the mouse by its tail, carrying it to her cage. She'd eat it later.

After making sure she had water and was comfortable – as comfortable as an owl could be – he stripped and got under the light blanket on his bed.

The bruises on his neck, while painful if he prodded them, didn't hurt if when he breathed, so he decided to try to sleep. After all, he had a mystery to solve in the morning. Mystery. Department of Mysteries. Sirius.

He didn't cry. He'd done that. Instead, he thought. He thought about Sirius, the man he'd known. He thought about his tales of the Hogwarts years, the tales of adventures and detentions and pranks successfully pulled. He thought about a dog that chased the Hogwarts Express, tongue lolling. He thought about a man singing a carol with a Hippogriff in it. He thought about that same man, riding a Hippogriff to his freedom. He thought about a boy, running foolishly to save a godfather. He thought about guilt, and about punishment. And he made decisions, and accepted facts.

Harry sighed and whispered two words before sleep claimed him.

"Goodbye, Sirius."

If someone with really good hearing had been listening, they would have heard a sharp, bark-like laugh that echoed in the room, followed by a happy feminine sigh. But Harry Potter slept, at peace with himself, and nobody could hear anything, so maybe they weren't real.


	2. Chapter Two

**Escape**

by malko050987

**Chapter Two**

Disclaimer: I don't own Harry Potter or anything related.

Many thanks to Ham and LunaMoon224 for looking over this before it was posted.

Harry was up bright and early, long before anybody else in the house. He did a quick job of getting a shower and made himself a small breakfast, consisting of several sandwiches that he took to his room. Once there, he started to tidy it up. He didn't have a broom or any other cleaning tools, but didn't really need any. Hedwig's cage was enchanted with a cleaning charm that made sure the cage was in pristine condition at all times. After several summers of having to scrub it by hand, it was a relief.

He descended to the kitchen when his uncle called for him, and quietly cooked them breakfast. They'd already set plates for themselves, making it obvious that he had no place at the table. Apparently, Dudley wasn't expected either. He shrugged it off, thinking of the two sandwiches still on the plate in his room. He'd made extra for himself, but now he saw a better use for them. Luckily, Petunia had the habit of stocking the fridge to bursting, and keeping it that way, so nobody would notice a bit of missing ham. She's just think Vernon had made himself a late-night snack.

He washed the dishes when Petunia ordered him, feeling his uncle's glare on his back all the time. When he was done, he patiently waited for his uncle to finish reading the paper before speaking.

"Uncle Vernon?" Once the small, hateful eyes were fixed on him, Harry continued in the same, blank polite tone, "May I be excused?" He had decided to be as polite as possible. There was no point in making them angry with him.

His uncle grunted an affirmative, and Harry climbed back to his room. He sat on the bed with a book, passing time until he heard his uncle drive away to work. He didn't know where his aunt was, but she'd mentioned leaving during breakfast, so he knew she was away for a few hours.

Perfect for his plan.

He took the plate with the two sandwiches and walked to Dudley's room, stopping in front of the door.

He thought about what he was going to do. Why did he feel so distressed by what had happened the previous night? Sure, Dudley had been a real sight, looking more like a blond Harry than the usual pig-with-a-wig impression, but it hadn't been so disturbing… had it?

Harry shrugged the question off and raised his hand to knock on the door. He would find out, and if Dudley was still the same bastard he'd been before, well, avoiding him wouldn't be hard.

Besides, Harry was conscious that he _needed_ to do something to occupy himself or he'd go mad, just like Sirius. He doubted the Order members would allow him outside, and he doubted even more that Dumbledore would allow him to leave Privet Drive in a hurry.

A noise from inside the room stayed his hand, and he slowly opened the door, almost stepping back at the sight that met his eyes.

Clothes were strewn all over the room, most of Dudley's prized possessions were in pieces, and the boy himself was on the bed, shivering in the throes of another nightmare. Dudley had pajama bottoms on, and Harry was appalled to note that he could see Dudley's ribs. What could have happened to drive to boy to such a state?

"No! Take… t-take it away!" Dudley's hoarse voice yelled.

In a second, Harry was at his side, shaking him awake. He knew that he was probably going to get a punch for his trouble, but he couldn't help it. His "saving people thing" wouldn't let him.

"Dudley?" he called, shaking the boy's shoulder. "Dudley, wake up."

With a suddenness that startled Harry, Dudley was awake, batting his hand away and quickly moving away from him, shaky hands and feet pushing at the bed covers. He stood there, frozen for a moment, waiting for Dudley's brain to register the fact that he wasn't in trouble.

"H-Harry? Wha-" Dudley began.

"What's going on, Dudley?" Harry interrupted sharply. After a night's sleep, the events that had transpired in the night seemed a bit less real. But seeing Dudley had made it painfully real for Harry, and made it obvious that something was dreadfully wrong in the Dursley household.

His thoughts were interrupted when Dudley suddenly grabbed his arm and started dragging him out of the room.

"We have to leave! Hurry, before they get back!"

Harry shook Dudley off, and stood where he was. "Dudley, _what_ is going on?"

"There is no time! You have to go away before they come back!" he yelled frantically, trying to push Harry out of his room. "You have to leave this place before they are back… before _he_ is back."

He was too weak to be able to do much against Harry, and he slumped on his bed, trembling as memories assaulted him. Harry was about to ask who it was that he had to get away from, but Dudley started speaking.

"After you went to school… he came here. An old man, with a white beard. He talked with my parents. I listened to them, from where he couldn't see me."

Dudley drew a shuddering breath and raised his head to look at Harry. "He said some awful things. You have to go away, Harry, before that evil man comes back."

"Dumbledore? Evil man? Dudley, what the hell are you talking about?" snapped Harry. Dumbledore couldn't be evil. He was the man who'd defeated Grindewald. He was the leader of the Order of the Phoenix. There was no way he could be evil… was there?

He noticed that Dudley had flinched at the name of Dumbledore, and again wondered what made Dudley so afraid of the man. Had Dumbledore visited the Dursleys? He was willing to bet that he hadn't. Yet Dudley seemed sincere, and Dudley was a simple person. There was no way he would be able to fake such extreme emotions.

"You have to get away from here, Harry!" Dudley was frantic, jumping to his feet and redoubling his efforts to drag Harry out of the room.

Realizing that the only way to get some answers was to play along, so he let Dudley drag him to the door of the house. He stepped out, and turned, expecting Dudley to follow. But Dudley wasn't following.

He was on the floor, gasping for breath.

Harry ran to him and kneeled so he could hold his head still, keeping him from banging it on the floor. "Dudley, what's wrong?"

"Can't – leave – the – house," he gasped out, and Harry frowned.

"What do you mean you can't leave the house?"

"Dumbledore – spell."

Fifteen minutes later, they were back in Dudley's room. Harry was pacing, while Dudley was greedily gobbling down the two sandwiches Harry had brought earlier.

"So let me get this straight," Harry said, running his hand through his hair. "After I left last summer, Dumbledore visited, and he talked to your parents about me, while you were eavesdropping."

At Dudley's nod, he went on, "And you heard him telling them that they can do anything to me as long as I lived? That they would get all my money after I defeated Voldemort? He actually encouraged the abuse?"

Dudley swallowed and looked at his feet. "I heard him say it, Harry. _Alas, perhaps the more traditional methods of dealing with the rebellious youth should be encouraged, in young Harry's case,_" he quoted, adopting a grandfatherly manner. "He said that, right after he moved at them with his w-w- stick."

Harry turned sharply. "He cast a spell at them? What did he say?"

Dudley looked helpless. "He didn't say anything. He just moved that… stick in front of them, and I was scared and made a noise and he saw me. And he -" he shuddered at the memory.

"Dudley, what happened?" Harry asked. He knew Dudley had reason to fear magic, but something really dreadful had to have happened to make him _that_ afraid.

"He cast a spell at me, and it was painful and then he yelled at Mum and Dad and then he left," Dudley whispered, drawing his knees to his chest. "They didn't let me go to school. I can't get out of the house, and they hit me if they see me."

Harry dropped on the bed, and put his head in his hands, thinking things through.

According to Dudley, Dumbledore was evil and had cast a spell on the Dursleys to treat Dudley worse than Harry. He had also cast a spell on Dudley that had hurt him, and prevented him from exiting the house, causing him pain if he tried.

It was obvious that he needed to get away from Dumbledore's influence, if only to think things through. But he didn't want to leave Dudley behind, not after what he'd done. That meant he'd have to make a trip to Diagon Alley and get a book on wards. Eyeing Dudley, he thought about getting both of them some clothes. Nothing they had fit any of them.

He carefully explained his plan to Dudley, and then helped the other boy tidy up his room. He was finishing up when Dudley came back from his shower. He looked clean now, if not healthy. But only time would take care of that. Harry stood up to go to his own room, when Dudley grabbed his arm.

For a few seconds they faced each other, and Dudley bowed his head. "Harry, about all these years… what I did to you… I'm sorry."

"It's okay, Dudley, you didn't know any better," Harry said. "It will take me a while to work past all the things you did, but I forgive you." With that, he brushed past Dudley and into his room, letting himself fall on the bed. It was nearly lunchtime, and he had a lot of thinking and planning to do. Tomorrow would be a very busy day.


	3. Chapter Three

**Escape**

by malko050987

**Chapter Three**

Disclaimer: I don't own Harry Potter or anything related.

Many thanks to Ham and Sarah for looking over this before it was posted.

Unfortunately for Harry, he didn't get a chance to leave the house for a few days. He spent a large part of his free time with Dudley, getting to know the new person his cousin had become. There were times when Dudley would drop back to his earlier persona, and there were times when Harry wanted to hex his cousin into next week, but those times were fewer and fewer over the days.

Overall, the few days spent locked up at Privet Drive were beneficial for the two of them.

That was why, at midnight, a week after he had arrived back at the Dursley's, he and Dudley were in the kitchen, and Dudley was reluctant to let him go. From the boy's manner, Harry suspected that Dudley was afraid he wouldn't be coming back.

"Yes Dudley, I'm sure I won't get caught," Harry snapped for what it felt like the thousandth time. He understood that Dudley was afraid that they would use magic to find him. Dudley was afraid of all magic, Harry concluded. And he had no idea what magic could, or couldn't do. Because he'd only seen the bad parts of magic – usually as a victim – he was understandably frightened.

Dudley seemed to want to say something more, but shut his mouth with a snap and nodded. Harry opened the back door and slipped his Invisibility cloak over his head.

"Be careful, Harry," Dudley whispered, keeping his distance from the door. He had gotten a few shocks while trying to leave the house, and didn't want a repeat performance.

"I'll be back, Dudley, hopefully with a way to get us out of here." With that, Harry shut the door and crept away. He jumped the fence to number three, and silently made his way out of Privet Drive.

When he felt he'd put enough distance between his home and his guards, he ducked in an alley; he took off his cloak and rolled it up, putting it in his bag.

The walk to the bus station was a short one. After he arrived, he took a seat in the small waiting room, waiting for the ticket booth to open. He had known that he would have to wait, perhaps until morning, but both he and Dudley had agreed that leaving at night would be much easier than during the day.

At around four in the morning, Harry was almost asleep. He blinked tiredly when he heard an old lady move to open the side door to the ticket booth, muttering about homeless and the government.

He grinned in amusement, but his face became serious as he realized that if their plan succeeded, both he and Dudley _would _be homeless. Well, it was better than their current situation, he reasoned with a shrug, before going to purchase a two-way ticket to London.

He had almost the entire day before having to return, and he planned to take full advantage of it. There was a note on the kitchen table at the Dursley's, written in his best imitation of the Headmaster's handwriting. The note said that Harry had been needed elsewhere, but that he'd be "returned" in less than forty-eight hours.

Lying back in his not-so-comfortable bus seat, Harry went over his plans for London. The first stop was, obviously, Gringotts. After that, he wanted to see what books Flourish & Blotts had on personal wards, and buy some of them, in order to find out about the spell that had been cast on Dudley. Maybe some book on imprisonment spells, although he doubted he'd find such a book in Flourish & Blotts.

He was deep in thought, not paying much attention to his surroundings; thus, he was quite startled when a small girl bounced in front of him and pointed at him with a chocolate-smeared finger. "You's Hawwy Potter! You's in paper!" she proclaimed, very sure of herself.

"Angela!" an elderly woman called her tone reproachful. "Stop with that nonsense!" Harry noticed that her second reprimand held a touch of fear and sighed. He'd hoped the wizarding world would stop treating him like a crazed lunatic who should be feared.

He stared out the window for the rest of the trip, thinking about all he'd learned about the wizarding world in the few years he'd been a part of it.

He climbed off the bus along with the other passengers and looked around, hoping to get an idea of where he was. Unfortunately, nothing he saw was familiar. There was a large map; it let him know that he was on the edge of London proper. He'd have to take another bus to the station closest to King's Cross, and make his way from there to the Leaky Cauldron, and Diagon Alley. He started tracing the route with his finger.

"Um… may I help you?" a hesitant voice asked.

A middle-aged woman was standing a couple yards to his left. Hiding behind her skirt, and getting it very chocolate-y in color, was the girl who'd spoken to him during the bus ride.

Taking his silence as approval, the lady went on, "We're going to the Leaky Cauldron, and it looked like you want to go there too… " she trailed off.

Harry looked at her closely for a few seconds. She seemed sincere enough. But then, he'd always thought Dumbledore was the best wizard in the world. The little girl – Angela? – peeked from behind the woman and grinned at him happily. Her fondness to chocolate became even more obvious. "Gonna get mo' choco!" she exclaimed.

He grinned back at her and nodded at the woman. "I'd appreciate your help, Madam. I've never been in this part of London before, and I'm a bit disoriented," he said.

She nodded understandingly and leaned close to him, dropping her voice to a whisper. "Most wizards get completely lost in the Muggle world. I'm a Muggle myself, but this little bundle of trouble," she tugged on Angela's hand, making her come in front, "is a witch, just like her parents." Angela grinned at Harry and offered him half a bar of molten chocolate.

Half an hour later, Harry and Mrs. Jones, as she'd asked him to call her, along with her granddaughter Angela were in a small cafe, waiting for the bus to pass. Harry sipped his orange juice, and listened to Angela rattle on about all the chocolate things she'd buy. He liked the little girl, he decided,even if she was, as her grandmother had put it, a bundle of trouble.

-

Two hours later, Harry was opening the entrance to Diagon Alley. Mrs. Jones and Angela were in the Leaky Cauldron, resting for a bit. Angela was only a four-year old, and the trip at such an early hour had tired her. They'd invited him to stay with them, but he pleaded urgent business and left.

He kept his eyes in front of him, and his head bowed down. Luckily, the Alley was almost empty at the early hour, only shopkeepers opening or setting up stands, with the odd customer here and there. Harry entered the great hall of Gringotts without any problems in the Alley.

He walked at a normal pace towards the nearest booth but a small goblin intercepted him.

"Mister Potter, you were expected. My name is Snatram. If you will follow me." The goblin turned without another word, leaving Harry to gape after him. He had to hurry after the goblin.

Snatram led him to a small office and left, closing the door behind him. The office contained a desk, several uncomfortable looking chairs and an obviously enchanted window, showing a breathtaking ridge of snow covered mountains. On the desk there was the standard Self-Inking Office Quill – _Guaranteed to last through one thousand meetings and one! _–, several sheets of written parchment and a few rolls of blank parchment. Aside from that, the office was empty. Behind the desk, in a chair similar to the others in the office, sat a goblin. The only difference Harry could see between this goblin and any others he had seen were the earrings. This goblin had four of them, all in his left ear.

"Welcome, Mr. Potter," the goblin said. "Please, take a seat. We have been expecting you."

Harry sat down anxiously. He opened his mouth to ask a question, but the goblin stopped him by raising a finger.

"Mr. Potter, let me begin by assuring you that Gringotts is in no way responsible for the recent events. We were unable to do anything about it, due to the terms of the contract signed by Gringotts the day Mister James Potter and Mrs. Lily Potter filed their wills with us. The contract…" he trailed off, looking at Harry closely.

"What events?" Harry asked sharply. He couldn't be referring to Sirius, could he? What interest would Gringotts have in that?

"Why, your guardianship issues, of course," the goblin explained, a trace of impatience coloring his tone.

"Guardianship issues?" Harry asked, completely confused.

"Yes, Mr. Potter. Guardianship issues. Especially transferring your guardianship to one Albus Dumbledore, Headmaster of Hogwarts. Your presence is required, why is why we sent you an owl requesting this meeting."

"What owl?" He didn't remember any owls from Gringotts.

The goblin studied him carefully for a few seconds, and then leaned back in the chair. "Very well, Mr. Potter. Since you appear to be unaware of the events I speak of, I shall give you a brief explanation." At Harry's nod, he continued. "Several weeks ago, your guardian was killed," he glanced at the parchment on his desk, "by passing through the Veil of Death. Since then, four requests of claiming guardianship have been filed at the Ministry. Gringotts is automatically forwarded such files in the cases of patrons with assets in our establishment, to handle and give advice, if needed. Out of the four requests, three were suddenly withdrawn, leaving only one, on the name of Albus Dumbledore.

"All the legal proceedings pertaining to this case have been finished last week, Mr. Potter. However, Mr. Dumbledore cannot claim guardianship unless you sign the papers, which is why you have been called to Gringotts."

Harry closed his mouth with a snap, and glanced at the parchment the goblin was sliding toward him. "What if I don't want him to be my guardian?" he asked.

"Gringotts will give you advice, if you request it," the goblin answered, all traces of his previous impatience gone.

Harry thought about it for a few minutes, and then looked up. "Very well, I do not want Dumbledore to be my guardian. I would be grateful for any advice Gringotts could offer me."

The goblin touched the parchment and murmured and word, making it burst in flames that quickly consumed it, leaving no trace.

"Mr. Potter, I am Triphook," he said. "It appears we have much to discuss and little time to do it in. Please, make yourself comfortable." With a wave of a hand and another murmured word, the room changed completely.

Tapestries and sculptures decorated the walls, with an axe and vicious looking sword pinned to the wall behind the desk. The desk itself remained unchanged, while the chairs shifted into comfy leather armchairs. Triphook walked from behind the desk and motioned for Harry to join him to a pair of armchairs that were facing each other over a small table.

Once they were both seated, Triphook started speaking. "Mr. Potter, I assume you have no knowledge of the working of Gringotts?"

The following few hours were some of the most informative and productive hours in Harry's life. But as he stepped out of Gringotts, three hours later, he felt free.


	4. Chapter Four

**Escape**

by malko050987

**Chapter Four**

Disclaimer: I don't own Harry Potter or anything related.

Many thanks to Ham and LunaMoon224 for looking over this before it was posted.

Harry bowed his head, letting his bangs obscure his scar, as he left the huge, white bulk of Gringotts behind him. He stifled a grin as he thought of Triphook and the goblin's advice. He had proved to be very helpful, showing a side of goblins Harry never thought he'd see.

His mood turned more serious as he thought of the subjects he and Triphook had discussed. His inheritance from Sirius had been one of them, as well as his parents' will.

Harry wondered what had driven Dumbledore to do all the things he'd done. Entering Flourish & Blotts, he thought about the things Triphook had revealed to him.

Apparently, his parents' will declared that in case of their death, Sirius Black would be his guardian. Harry chuckled at one particular phrase, almost hearing his father's voice saying it. "_No matter the legal status of Mr. Black_", the will said. It had been the only thing preventing Dumbledore from assuming the guardianship himself. Since Sirius was in no position to act as a guardian, Dumbledore had acted and Harry had been sent to the Dursleys.

But now Sirius was dead, and his will had become valid. Triphook had outlined the terms of Sirius' will to Harry, sparing him of the task of fighting his way through the legalese. The terms were simple. Most of the Order members received a sum of money, usually in the thousands of Galleons. Remus received a much larger sum of money, as well as a trunk filled with keepsakes from Sirius' Hogwarts days. The rest went to Harry, to do with it what he felt like. It was a staggering amount, and it was only the ready available cash. Triphook had said that included in the Black inheritance were a number of investments in major wizarding companies.

But the best part, Harry felt, about Sirius' will, was the two parchments rolled up in his pocket. One was a letter from Sirius himself, which he hadn't read yet. The other parchment was a perfectly legal decree of emancipation, on the name of Harry James Potter, son of James Potter and Lily Potter. He had no idea how Sirius had managed to do it, but now, as far as the law and any authorities were concerned, he was an adult, with all responsibilities and freedoms that entailed. The best side of the emancipation was the fact that he was allowed to perform magic out of school. Triphook had advised him to wait twenty-four hours before attempting any magic, to give time to the Ministry clerks to process the paperwork. For him, a day didn't matter much. He'd lasted through several summers; he'd manage another day.

He knew that he still had to escape any plans Dumbledore had for him, but he didn't want to think about that for a few hours. It was time he enjoyed himself, for a change. With a small smile, he approached the counter.

"Hello sir, how may I help you?" the witch tending the counter asked. In front of her, on the counter, were a few pamphlets that, from the look of them, described basic home protection and first aid methods. Harry took one of each, noticing that the pile didn't seem to diminish. Enchanted, of course.

"Besides, these," he said, lifting the pamphlets, "do you have any book that focus on protection spells, such as wards and containment spells?"

The witch – Claire, if her nametag was right – touched her wand to a blank parchment, whispering several words. Harry didn't understand the words that appeared, but figured it was in code, so that only employees could read it.

"We only have a book on general wards in stock, sir, but our mail order catalogue has a large selection book, including several more obscure texts. The catalogue is available at the price of two galleons. If you buy one today, you receive a free copy of '_Dementors and You: Think Happy Thoughts!_'," she finished in a practiced tone.

Harry grinned at her and nodded. "I'll take the catalogue, and the book you have in stock."

After paying for his purchase, he ducked into the Magical Menagerie for some owl treats for Hedwig. He also bought a sack enchanted with a permanent lightweight charm from one of the street merchants, and stuffed his old bag in that. Swinging the sack over his shoulder, he headed for the Leaky Cauldron, and the exit from Diagon Alley. He would have to buy himself a lunch, and a few full sets of clothing, for him and Dudley.

He looked longingly at Florean Fortesque's as he passed by, but he couldn't afford to spend more time in the Alley; he didn't want to be recognized. It would mess with his plans. Dumbledore must not find out that he'd been out of the Dursley household.

When he arrived at the exit from Diagon Alley, he glanced back and marveled at the normalness of it all. Sure, the people were tense and wary, and mothers kept their children close; but aside from that, it looked as if it was business as usual.

Shaking his head, he rushed through the Cauldron, exiting in Muggle London. Once there, he took out a napkin from his pocket, and peered at the slightly smudged directions Mrs. Jones had given him.

Stopping every now and then to double-check his hand-made map, he made his way to a clothes shop that, according to Mrs. Jones, had reasonable prices and quality merchandise.

The shop wasn't very hard to find, thanks to the directions he'd received. And a bored looking clerk was lounging in a folding chair behind the counter, and didn't give any sign of having noticed Harry entering.

Shrugging, Harry made his way through the racks of clothing, selecting clothing that looked about right in size, for both him and Dudley. A few short minutes later, he was dropping a handful of clothes on the counter, bravely ignoring two giggling girls that were checking out the lingerie side of the store. He'd avoided that part, save for grabbing a few pairs of boxers.

The now-grumpy clerk sorted the clothing into two large bags and named a price that Harry was sure had been inflated by quite a bit. He didn't mind; he had more than enough money on him.

Laden with the two bags, one of which now contained the charmed sack, he made his way back to the train station. Halfway there, he cursed himself and hailed one of the taxis that seemed to be ever-present.

The driver, an old, bearded man chuckled at the relieved sigh Harry let out while sitting in the front seat.

"Nothing better than a car to get you where you want to go," he said.

Harry nodded, grinning at him. "At the moment, I want to go to King's Cross Station, and stuff myself."

The man eyed him carefully, before driving off. "I know a great place where a young man can sit down and eat at his leisure," he said. "It's a two minute walk from the station. If ye want, I can take you there."

Harry accepted his suggestion gratefully, and left him a large tip. The man had been right. The small diner was great. The menu didn't have many products on it, but the quality made up for it. He devoured the food set in front of him, completely unnoticed in the small place. The tables were almost always full, with two waitresses constantly moving between the kitchen and the tables. There were lively, cheerful conversations going on everywhere, and Harry savored the large sundae he'd ordered for dessert, taking his time to enjoy himself.

He left the small shop with a sigh, resolving to get back if he had the chance.

He wandered around London for two hours, drinking in the sights. He was chewing on a Mars bar when he arrived at the bus station from where he was to leave for Surrey. The return trip was far less enjoyable than the trip to London had been. In the front rows a couple had decided they couldn't wait until getting home to resolve domestic conflicts, and their words rang throughout the bus.

Several people attempted to calm the fighting man and woman down, but nothing seemed to work. Sighing, Harry leaned his forehead against the cool window, and tried to count the trees that flew past.

After losing track of his count several times, and saying the same number three times in a row, Harry gave up on tree counting. He flexed his numb legs, and rubbed his eyes. It was evening already, and he was tired.

Finally, with a screech of un-oiled brakes, the buss stopped at the station in Little Whinging, Surrey, and Harry gratefully hopped down.

Under the cover of the night and his Invisibility cloak, he sneaked back to number four and crept upstairs to his room. He'd talk to Dudley in the morning.

He didn't bother to change; he just dropped on the bed and let the welcomed sleep wash over him.


	5. Chapter Five

**Escape**

by malko050987

**Chapter Five**

Disclaimer: I don't own Harry Potter or any related stuff.

A/N: Many Thanks to Ham and LunaMoon224 for betaing this for me.

"Psst!"

A hand was shaking him awake. Harry rolled over and mumbled something unintelligible.

"Harry! Wake up, Harry," the voice continued. With a grunt, Harry raised his head and blinked blearily. Dudley was standing on the edge of his bed with a hand on his shoulder, and was still shaking it slightly, even though Harry was clearly awake.

"'m awake, Dud," Harry mumbled, shaking his head to clear it. He ignored Dudley's expression and moved higher on the bed, leaning his back against the wall.

"So, what's so urgent that you had to wake me up at," he glanced at the clock on the desk, "six in the morning?"

Dudley shrugged, his expression blank, but Harry saw that every few seconds he would glance at the two bags he had left on the floor, next to his bed. He grinned at Dudley.

"Okay, let's see what I bought. Pass me one of the bags."

They spent the next half-hour separating the clothing in more or less equal parts. Harry just threw most of it bag in the bag; he planned to leave as soon as possible, there was no point in spreading it around. He'd just have to pack it anyway.

He heard a soft sound, almost a whimper, and he looked at Dudley in alarm. The boy was clutching his share of the clothes to his chest, and looked about to cry. Harry gaped for a second, then made as if to move towards Dudley, but hesitated. He had no idea what the boy was thinking, or what could have brought such a reaction. And he had never been good at comforting crying people, something Dudley was very close to becoming.

"Um… Dud?" he asked slowly.

Dudley sniffed loudly, clutching the clothes tighter to him. After almost a minute filled with an uncomfortable silence, he got to his feet and hurried out of the room. He did throw back a strangled "Thank you" as he closed the door behind him, and Harry shook his head, bemused. Dudley was behaving weirder and weirder.

He got out of bed, changed his clothing and ducked in the bathroom for a quick wash. When he was done washing up, he went to the kitchen and started breakfast. He made more than enough for all four of them, and took enough food for him and Dudley to his room.

He hurried down the stairs when he heard his uncle move to the bathroom and set the table for the two adults. He waited impatiently for the two of them to come to breakfast. He had a book to study.

That thought gave him pause. He was actually impatient to start studying. In the summer holiday, which was even worse. 'Hermione would be proud,' he thought, then frowned. He hadn't really thought about his friends after leaving school. Were they all fine? He knew that Hermione still had several potions that she had to take regularly, and that the brains had done Ron quite a lot of damage.

He wasn't particularly worried about the lack of letters from them. After all, the owls were likely to be intercepted. Still, he'd sent Hedwig on two trips already, with his "Everything is fine" letter, and she had been fine on both trips.

Vernon's heavy descent down the stairs shook him out of his thoughts. He'd think about it later.

"Good morning, Uncle Vernon," Harry said politely, his voice devoid of any emotion. His Uncle grunted in response and started shoveling food down his mouth.

Petunia came down a while later, and started eating without appearing to notice Harry's presence. He waited until they were done and washed the dishes, after which he quietly retreated to his room. A silent knock on Dudley's room prompted the boy to open the door enough for Harry to slip a plate of food inside. From what he could see of the room, Dudley had started trying on the new clothes. The piece of floor Harry could see was more or less hidden under Dudley's old clothing, which didn't fit either of them anymore.

"Thanks, Harry," Dudley whispered with a tremor in his voice, as he took the plate of eggs and bacon from Harry's hand.

"You're welcome, Dudley," he replied, smiling. Once Dudley closed the door, Harry went back in his room and threw himself on the bed with the two books and the catalogue.

He skimmed over the index of the book about Dementors, and saw that it was little more than what they had learned in their third year. There were a few notes on the Patronus Charm, as well as the incantation and wand movement. He found it funny that the last few pages were filled with descriptions of different chocolates, from various companies.

The book on wards – _Keeping It Out – _was a much more interesting read. It wasn't a thick book, but it was early afternoon by the time he finished it, including the one hour break he had taken to make and eat lunch. There wasn't anything on blood wards or imprisonment charms in the book, but the Fidelius was outlined, as well as other specific secrecy wards.

While not helping him in his plans for escape, the book gave him some ideas on what to do once he was away from the Dursleys.

He put both books in his trunk, next to the few textbooks he still had in one piece. Somehow, his textbooks ended up all ripped and torn by the end of the school year, and he'd thrown a large part of them away because he didn't felt he needed them anymore. At times he was really, really glad Hermione didn't know about that

The books taken care of, he started browsing through the catalogue. The ordering instructions were on the first page, and seemed simple enough. All he had to do was fill the magical form at the end of the catalogue with the desired book codes and sign his name.

He stopped reading there and looked at the form. It was indeed, very simple-looking. He saw a square with the Gringotts logo on it near the bottom of the form, and he thought it must be for payment. Looking back at the instructions, he discovered he'd been right. After signing his name and filling all necessary fields on the form, he had to place his Gringotts key on the square, and the money would be deducted from his vault.

Once secure that he would be able to order and pay for the books, he looked at the index. The books were separated into categories, several of which caught his eyes. _Defense against the Dark Arts_ was one, as well as _Dangerous spells. _He glanced briefly at the _Transfiguration and Various Transforming spells_ section, and sighed sadly at the number of animagus-centered books. He didn't have time for that now. He would buy one later and see if he had the ability. The _General defensive techniques and spellwork_ section had several books that he noted down, planning to order them. He flipped several pages at once, wanting to get to the form, and froze when he saw where it had opened.

The words _Various Sexuality Books_ screamed at him from the page. Apparently, whoever had designed the catalogue had deemed it proper to have an illustrated section. And had chosen the one on sex to be it.

He closed it as quickly as he could, and looked around guiltily. He glared at Hedwig, daring her to say anything. She just blinked at him, and he blushed harder.

Sure, he'd seen naked women before. After all, he was the one who had to clean the house, and that included cleaning in the bathroom. Dudley was not good at hiding his magazines, and Harry had seen enough of them to know what men and women found pleasurable.

He had even seen one magical magazine of the sort. He still blushed at the memory, of what the two witches in the picture were doing.

He filled the form quickly, and pressed his key to the Gringotts marked spot. A few sparks flew off the page, and then it was clear again. According to the clerk, it would take a few hours for his order to be processed and delivered. He put the catalogue in his trunk, hiding it deep under a stack of robes and his potions cauldron. He did _not_ want anybody to see that catalogue, especially the last few pages.

Out of activities, and not feeling like spending time with Dudley, Harry stretched on the bed and thought about the changes his life was going through. He was planning to leave the Dursleys, and take Dudley with him. He'd run away from them once, in his third year, but that had been a hasty decision, made more out of fear than anything else. This time it was planned deliberately.

Strangely, he didn't feel fear at the though of leaving. He was a bit apprehensive of Dumbledore's reaction, but he'd decided that Dumbledore had a lot of explaining to do before Harry could even begin to trust him again. He grinned a bit evilly at the thought of interrogating Dumbledore. He had a long list of questions.

Why had Dumbledore hidden the prophecy from him in his first year? Harry had asked him, and it was the perfect opportunity for Dumbledore to come clean.

If his reason was true – that he cared too much for Harry – what about the curse on Dudley, and his words to the Dursleys? Had everything been a lie? Or was it a recent change? It had been his fifth year in which Dumbledore had been cold and distant.

He shook his head in frustration. It was no point building wild theories on the few facts he had. Solving the mystery that Dumbledore had become could wait for a few weeks.

Determined not to think about Dumbledore anymore, he jumped out of bed and walked over to Hedwig, stroking her feathers for a while, focusing on the softness he could feel. His mind cleared of his frustration and all thoughts of Dumbledore vanished.

Almost an hour later, he felt more relaxed than ever, in his entire life. Stroking Hedwig's feathers, while making the owl blink at him and make a sound that he took as pleasure, was also calming him down, and clearing his mind.

Calming his mind.

Occlumency.

He practically dived to his trunk and the catalog, and quickly opened it to the _Defensive techniques and spellwork. _To his disappointment, there were no books on Occlumency, and he threw it on the floor, muttering a curse.

He needed to learn Occlumency, if only to avoid a repeat of the Department of Mysteries. He doubted Voldemort would try such a thing again, but maybe Occlumency would help with the pain in his scar. It hurt constantly now, and Harry had learned to ignore the pain, but it was annoying.

He began pacing, muttering about stupid Snape and stupid Dumbledore and stupid Occlumency and worked his way from there.

Lost in his ranting, he missed the very brief sparkle of mischievous intelligence that appeared in Hedwig's eyes. He also missed her rather forced take-off from her perch. But he did see her drop to the catalogue and snatch at the paper with her claws. Hedwig circled the room and landed back on her perch, and stared with a rather put-out expression at the world in general.

Harry picked up the catalogue and went to close it, when he noticed at what page it was open. In bold lettering, it proclaimed: _Rare and Unique books._

He quickly scanned the few books in the list, and froze as he saw: _Do you mind? A complete guide to protecting one's thoughts_

Shaking himself, he quickly ordered the book. He hoped they still had it in stock. With the catalogue back at the bottom of the trunk, and after a quick dinner – he even managed to smuggle something up for Dudley – he was ready for bed, despite the early hour. Lying in bed, he focused on feeling again like he had felt while running his hand over Hedwig's soft feathers. Slowly, the feeling of emptiness, of clearness returned to him, and he fell asleep with a smile on his face.


	6. Chapter Six

**Escape**

by malko050987

**Chapter Six**

Disclaimer: I don't own Harry Potter or anything related to it.

A\N: Many thanks go to Ham and LunaMoon224, for betaing this for me.

_He was falling, falling and spinning and he couldn't stop, and he was yelling, and he was hurting and something was happening, what was that? A light? He couldn't close his eyes and it was hurting, hurting him and he yelled and cried out in pain._

_Silence. _

_Darkness. _

_Pain. Feeling. Touch. _

_Slowly, he started doing a check of what he could feel of himself. He could feel a bit of pain in his legs and arms, and he took that as a good sign. His throat ached, probably from all the screaming he'd done. He had a headache, but even as he thought of it, it was going away. Pain was good. Pain meant he was alive._

_He couldn't hear anything, so he risked opening his eyes. _

_He blinked in surprise at the sight and stood up, looking around him. He was on a plain, with green fields rolling away from him in all directions. There was a soft breeze, and it drew his attention to the fact that he was naked. He started looking around for something to cover himself with. If he was under attack, being naked was not a good thing. _

"_Oh, I forgot about that," a voice said behind him. _

_In a second, he was crouched in a dueling position, even if he didn't have a wand and he was using his left hand to save his dignity. The sight that met his eyes made him fall down. No more than ten feet from him stood a boy about his age. A very familiar boy._

_He had long, dark hair, and gray eyes. The face was hauntingly familiar, and Harry felt his eyes water. It couldn't be! He was dead_; _Harry had seen it! Yet he looked so much like him... Sirius. A younger Sirius, but it was him._

_At the moment, the boy was looking at himself in a way similar to Harry, only without the wariness. "I knew that I was forgetting something," he said to himself. "Prongs will get such a pranking when I get back. Lily too. She KNEW about this, I bet. When I get ba-"_

_His muttering was interrupted by Harry's voice. "Who're you? You can't be! Go away!" he was yelling, backing away from him. _

"_Harry," Sirius said jovially, a grin splitting his face. "It's _so _good to see you!" _

"_Erm..." Harry mumbled, not sure how to react. People who are dead don't grin like that. Dead people don't grin at all._

_Sirius bounded over to Harry and dropped on the ground next to him. His movements reminded Harry very much of how Padfoot used to move, and a half-smile appeared on his face. It was definitely Sirius, unless he was dreaming, and that still wasn't out of the question. _

"_I'm sure you want explanations, Harry, but I have to do something first, and you have to be standing for that," Sirius said, standing and hauling Harry to his feet. Before Harry had a chance to say anything, Sirius' arms were around him, hugging him as his Sirius' life depended on it. After a few seconds of consternation, Harry returned the hug. _

"_I missed you, Sirius," he whispered, shakily. _

"_I missed you too, kiddo," Sirius answered. _

_After several more seconds, Sirius said in a perfectly innocent tone of voice, "You know Harry, I wonder what would anybody think if they saw us hugging. I mean, being naked and all." A second later he was on the ground, laughing, while Harry was several feet away from him, glaring. _

"_You should have seen your face!" Sirius exclaimed. "I never knew you could look like that!" _

_Several minutes later the two boys were sitting on the soft grassy plain, facing each other. Harry was still a bit awkward about being naked, but since Sirius didn't appear to care, he relaxed._

"_Before you start pestering me with questions, you must know that there are a few things that I cannot tell you. I had to agree to that, or I couldn't come here."_

_Harry nodded. "So this isn't a dream?" has asked with hope in his voice. _

_Sirius frowned. "It is, and it isn't," he explained. "The dream was used as a portal to get you here, not a very enjoyable experience, I'm told. Once you were here, a portal opened in the- where I was, and I was sent here. This is... nothingness. Or something like that. All I know is that this is the empty space between the different worlds; the dream world, the world of the dead, several worlds that don't have any names anymore, and a bunch of other stuff that nobody should think – or know – about." He stopped for a moment, apparently thinking something over. "Anyway, you don't have to worry about that." _

_Harry nodded, feeling slightly overwhelmed at the amount of information he'd received. _

"_Anyway, ask your questions," Sirius grinned. _

"_Okay... umm... Why are you here? I mean, you died." _

"_Well, we, that is, Prongs, Lily and I have been watching over you, and we felt that you needed a bit of guidance, and some help. And since you plan to move from the Dursleys today, we chose this time." He opened his mouth to elaborate, but noticed that Harry was looking at the ground. "Harry?" He was alarmed, thinking that he's said something to upset him, but Harry looked up, and there was a huge grin on his face, even though he had tears in his eyes. _

"_They're watching over me! You're watching over me!" _

_Sirius looked confused. "Of course we do, Harry. We love you."_

_Harry nodded. "I know, it's just... " He hung his head and his voice dropped to a whisper. "Ï thought you'd hate me because you got killed because of me."_

"_Oh Harry..." With a sad look, Sirius reached over the space between them and lifted Harry's head so he could look into his eyes. "Harry, your parents drive me nuts all the time with all they gushing and talking about you. I'm no better than them. We are so, so very proud of you. Never think that we blame you. Sure, Voldemort killed your parents because he wanted to get to you. But that makes it his fault. I got killed because, well, I was stupid, and got cocky. And it was Bella who killed me, not you." _

_Harry smiled slightly and nodded. Satisfied that he'd got the point across, Sirius leaned back again. _

"_So you said you're watching over me? How, exactly?" Harry asked. _

"_We don't see you like a painting, or a muggle TEEVEE. We just have this knowledge of how you are and what you are doing. It was a bit disconcerting at first, but it's easy to get used to. You've got quite a large fanclub up there, Harry."_

"_How come you look like this?" Harry asked, not wanting to hear more about his fans. Sirius looked to be about the same age he was, although he was easily recognizable as the Azkaban escapee. _

"_What, did you expect I'd look like shit?" Sirius said with a grin. "After you die, the appearance you have in the other world is left to you. You're as young as you feel, basically," he continued. _

_Harry nodded. "You said that this talk was supposed to help me...?" _

"_Yeah. You don't have a place to stay to stay after escaping from the Dursleys, and for a while we had no idea what to do about it, but then somebody offered a suggestion. And no, I can't tell you who that is. Before I tell you what we had in mind, tell me, what are you planning to do, once you leave the Durlseys'?" _

"_I thought you knew that," Harry said. _

"_All we know is that you are planning to leave the Dursleys', and that it will happen today. We don't know anything very certain, Harry. We can watch over you, and know what you are doing, but we're not privy to your thoughts," Sirius explained._

_Harry nodded, secretly glad that they couldn't see his thoughts. He wasn't all that eager for everybody to know what he was thinking. Even if they were dead. _

"_Well, I just want to get as far away from this place as possible. Dudley actually suggested that we go to northern Scotland. We'd have plenty of places there to make a hideout for a couple of months, and figure out what to do next. We can get there by train, we checked. But aside from that no, we have no idea what we're going to do."_

_Sirius smiled at him. "I have a better suggestion. If you can get to a place with Floo, go to the destination '_Griffin Island_'. It's a small island off the coast of Scotland. There is heavy magic defending it. We doubt there are living humans on it, but if there are, they shouldn't give you any trouble. On the island, there is a house that you can settle in."_

_Harry thought it over. "It does sound better than hiding in some cave," he said. "But if it's so easy to get there, how will it be safe?"_

"_That island won't let them in. People who mean harm to those living on the island won't be able to get inside the wards. Besides, nobody even knows about it."_

_Harry nodded, already thinking about the places with Floo access he could use. _

"_Harry," Sirius said, urgency tingeing his voice. Harry looked up in alarm to see that Sirius was fading. "Harry, once you get to the island, start studying! You need it!"_

"_Will I see you again?" Harry called, reaching for the almost-invisible Sirius. _

"_Hopefully not for many, many decades," Sirius replied._

Harry woke up with a gasp. Judging from the light shining through his window, it was early evening. He was glad he and Dudley had decided to sleep all day today. The night was sure to be tiring, and they needed the energy. He got out of bed and started the last-minute preparations. Everything was already packed, except for one change of clothing, which he dressed in. His trunk now contained his and Dudley's possessions, and a spell had shrunk it to pocket size. He was as ready as he was going to be.

After the package of books had arrived, Harry had convinced Dudley to help him look through them for anything that could help break the charm on him; _Finite _didn't work, it had been the first spell he'd cast after being emancipated.

So they had read the books during the day, and Harry practiced the mind-clearing technique he had discovered while stroking Hedwig. The book explained a similar technique, involving a candle, but said that it deepened on each person. With his mind cleared, he could sleep well, with only the occasional nightmare waking him up.

Once they had discovered the charm Dumbledore had used on Dudley – it was a type of ward based on blood, very easy to dispel – they had begun planning their escape.

And now they were ready. All they had to do was wait until nightfall.

Dudley took the shining knife from Harry's hand and put the blade against the tip of his finger. He pressed slightly, and the skin broke. Hissing in pain, he stretched his hand and let several drops of blood fall on the threshold of the back door. There was a small flare of magic.

Hesitantly, he took a step forward, and when meeting no resistance, another one. In two steps, he was outside. Harry followed him, grinning at the happy smile on Dudley's round face.

With one last look behind them, the two youngsters melted into the shadows.


	7. Chapter Seven

**Escape**

by malko050987

**Chapter Seven**

Disclaimer: Never owned it, never will.

A/N: Many thanks to Ham and LunaMoon224 for looking over this for me. :)

This will be my last update for the next two weeks. I'm leaving on a trip tomorrow, and I won't have internet access. I have chapters eight and nine written and sent to my betas, so I will be ready to post once I'm back. Have a fun two weeks, and thanks for reading the story :D

* * *

Harry climbed over the fence to number three with ease. Dudley had a bit more difficulty, but with Harry's help, he managed. From there, they tip-toed their way out of Privet Drive. Harry motioned Dudley to go first, and the boy nodded. He was still looking back at Harry, and his foot hit a rock, which clinked its way on the pavement.

Harry swore, and prepared to cover them both with his Invisibility Cloak. Unfortunately, he didn't have the time.

"_Lumos,_" a familiar voice said, bathing them in yellow light. "Harry?" Nymphadora Tonks, Order member and Auror asked.

"Shit!" Harry cursed, taking out his wand and sending a stunner towards Tonks. "Dudley, run!"

He cast another stunner, and ran after Dudley. They both knew where they had to go. As he skidded around a corner, a blue hex hit the pavement where he'd been a second before. "Harry, wait!" the Auror called, only to curse as she was hit with an Impediment jinx.

Harry caught up to Dudley, and the two of them ran to the bus station. By the time they got there, Dudley was barely able to breathe, and Harry was gasping for breath. They hid there, knowing that there wasn't anything else they could do. They had to wait until the first bus and leave with that one.

The two of them spent two hours flinching at every sound, and constantly looking around. Harry berated himself for thinking that they would be able to leave without getting seen.

Still, they were still free, and hopefully the Order wouldn't let the news that he'd disappeared reach the public. Harry planned to leave to Griffin Island through the Floo at the Leaky Cauldron. It wasn't the best solution, but he didn't know any other places where he could have access to Floo without being seen or questioned.

The bus ride was uneventful, although both boys were twitchy. Once in London, Harry relaxed a bit. It was more familiar ground here. They walked most of the way to the Leaky Cauldron, seeing no need to wait for a bus if they knew the way, which Harry did.

They ducked in an Alley before reaching the Cauldron, and Harry covered them both with the Cloak. It wasn't an easy fit, and they had to bend their knees, but it covered them.

Dodging the Muggle walkers, Harry guided Dudley inside the small pub. It was still very early morning, and the tables were empty. Tom was at the bar, and he didn't even glance up as the door opened and closed on its own.

Trying to make as little noise as possible, the two teens walked to the fireplace. Looking around, Harry decided to risk, and took off the cloak. Tom nodded at him, but kept silent.

Dudley had been instructed briefly in the use of Floo powder, and he took a pinch from the bowl on the mantelpiece. Hesitantly, he stepped into the green flames, and called out "Griffin Island!"

Harry was about to do the same when the door leading from Diagon alley into the Cauldron burst open and a frantic Tonks ran in. "Harry! Wait, where are you going?" she yelled, jumping towards him.

Harry hurried into the flames, and called out the destination. As the last syllable left his mouth, a body smashed into his and they were both spinning. The trip was Harry's worst Floo trip he'd ever had. He his hit elbows as they were spinning, and by the way Tonks was clinging to him, she was hurt too.

Finally, it was over. Harry did his best to keep his balance as the fireplace spit him out, but failed, and was thrown on the floor, hurting his already bleeding elbows. Tonks fell next to him with a thump.

Dudley was standing with his back to them, looking in front of him. Harry followed his gaze, and forgot all about his anger towards Tonks and the pain in his arms.

They were standing in a large room, half the size of the Hogwarts Great Hall. It had arched windows with stained glass panels. The walls were made of ancient stone. Tapestries hung from above, depicting plants and creatures. There was a long table in the middle of the hall, with a dozen chairs arrayed around it. The table was the only thing on the smooth, polished stone floor. There were no doors that he could see, but the tapestries could have easily hidden any number of doors.

The wall with the fireplace they had entered through was opposite the entrance. There was a pair of large, dark wood doors, and they were open, letting in a faint breeze that smelled of the sea. From where they were, they could see a stone path leading away from the doors, turning left after a few yards. Small bushes dotted the edges of the stone path. Straight ahead, the land stopped abruptly, and all they could see was the dark sea, meeting with the sky in the distance.

Harry stared for a long minute before a noise from Tonks attracted his attention. She was trying to get on her hands and knees, but had trouble moving one arm. A quick look showed that it was broken, and Harry mentally cursed himself for not taking more precautions.

She shouldn't have been able to follow them here.

With Dudley's reluctant help, he got Tonks to her feet and towards the table. She collapsed in a chair, holding her broken arm to her chest. By the way she moved, Harry guessed that she was more hurt than that.

"H-Harry?" she asked. "Where are we?"

"A place where you weren't supposed to be able to enter," he snapped. His temper was running short. He was hurting, he was angry, and Tonks was hurt.

Tonks flinched at his tone, then winced as the movement jolted her arm. She tried to keep as still as possible, but it was obvious that the pain was going up, rather than down. She bowed her head, taking a few deep breaths before addressing Harry again.

"Harry, I need to know where I am so I can call -" she stopped speaking.

Harry turned a chair so it was facing her, while Dudley walked towards the exit from the hall. "Don't go very far, Dud," he called, before turning his attention to Tonks, who was still silent. Her hair had turned to a deep black, and was long enough to hide her face.

"Tonks?" he called in a gentle, but determined tone.

She didn't answer for a few moments; her shoulders stiffened and she raised her head. He could see the tears in her eyes, and it abated his anger.

"Tonks, who else knows that I'm gone?" he asked, deciding to get the important stuff out of the way, before trying to see what he could do to help her. She was an Auror, and while in obvious pain, nothing major seemed to be wrong.

"Nobody," she answered in a resigned tone. "And most likely nobody will, until the first of September."

"What?"

"We were told to stand guard outside the house. I've been on day guard for a full week now, and unless we enter the house or you exit, there is no sign that you live there," she explained. "Unless something changes in our orders, nobody will realize that you are missing."

Harry nodded a thoughtful expression on his face. "Why didn't you tell anybody that I ran away?"

The young woman looked down. "I got put on guard duty because I messed up a mission for Dumbledore. I – don't want to be kicked out of the Order!"

Harry rocked back. _Kicked out? _"Kicked out? Dumbledore would kick you out of the Order because of a mistake?"

Tonks nodded, a sad expression on her face. "We can't afford to make mistakes, Harry. We're in the middle of a war, and mistakes cost lives…" she trailed off at the expression on Harry's face.

"Like my mistake cost Sirius his life," Harry whispered.

Hesitantly, Tonks began to talk. "Harry, you must not blame yourself for Sirius' death. He knew what he was getting into, and should have known better than to play with one of Voldemort's best Death Eaters.

"He was a grown man, capable of making his own decisions, Harry. He wouldn't want you blaming yourself. I know that he wouldn't blame you if he were here. He would probably thwack you, though," she said with a small grin; her face sobered and acquired a pensive expression. "He would tell you that yes, you made a mistake. You have to learn from it, and never do it again. But focusing on our mistakes is bad, Harry. I'm an Auror; I know what I'm talking about. Like my Auror supervisor used to say, 'Life is a lesson, learn from it'."

Harry surprised her by saying. "Yeah, I know, and I'm not blaming myself for Sirius' death. Yes, it was my mistake, but it's not my fault. Not entirely, anyway. Sirius' letter drove that point home," he said ruefully.

Tonks' head snapped up, and she winced at the pain in her arm. It was a dull pain, but she knew she'd have to get some treatment as soon as possible. "He left you a letter?" she asked.

Harry nodded. "Along with many other things," he said. Slowly, he took the well-read parchment from his pocket and gave it to Tonks. She shot him a grateful look before starting to read

_Dear Harry,_

_This letter should be delivered to you in case of my death. Since you're reading it, I'm dead._ _I can't say how sorry I am for that. I hoped that we could win this war, and that you and me would live happy lives, where I would tell you of my adventures and you would show me flying tricks. _

_Unfortunately, it was not to be. Again, I can't say how sorry I am for that. As you probably know already, I left almost everything to you. You're a good boy... no, you're a good man. I'm proud I got to know you, Harry. Your parents would be proud. _

_And now that all that is out of the way let me tell you about war. I realize that a letter isn't the best place for this, but I'm afraid I won't have time to do this while I'm alive. _

_War is evil, Harry. Plain evil. Nothing can destroy a man like war can. Nothing can destroy a nation like war. This is the second war I'm fighting in, and I'm afraid I will not see it end. I feel as though we're fighting somebody else's war, that we're just a distraction until the one who is fated to win this comes into play. _

_Something deep inside me tells me that it's you, but I'm afraid to say those words, I'm afraid to even think them. You're young, Harry... when I look at you, I see a small bundle of blankets that I was afraid I'd drop. I see bright, innocent eyes, gazing at me with happiness. _

_I'm so, so sorry that I couldn't be there for you as you grew up, Harry. _

_You have turned out to be a great man, Harry, and I feel privileged to have known you. _

_I planned to keep this letter short, but here I am, nearing the one-foot mark and I'm still writing... I guess I had more to say than I first thought. _

_Fight for what you believe, Harry. No other goal is better than that. Use whatever means at your disposal, and win. War isn't about honor. There is nothing honorable in cutting your opponent in two. There is nothing honorable about going down from a Cruciatus. _

_Remember that, Harry. In war, people will make mistakes, and people will die. They chose to be in the war, knowing that they might die. When you see a friend going down, fight harder. They won't be happy if you join them in death because you decided to stop and gape. _

_Enough about that, Harry. Know that I love you, and that I will be watching over you. _

_Your Godfather,_

_Sirius Black_

_P.S.: The Order is charged with guarding you. I suggest you take advantage of that, if you want to go on an adventure. If it's something the more official members would frown on, ask Remus or Tonks. They will help you if you explain your reasons to them, even if others wouldn't understand. _

Tonks handed the letter back to Harry, who took it with a sad smile.

"He really loved you," she said.

Harry nodded. They stood in a comfortable silence for a few minutes, until Dudley came running inside, yelling as if all the demons in hell were chasing him.


	8. Chapter Eight

**Escape**

by malko050987

**Chapter Eight**

Disclaimer: I don't own it, and if you think I do, see a therapist. Or better yet, I have some swampland...

A/N: Thanks to Ham for looking over this for me :)

Harry frowned at Dudley's entrance, and shot a look at Tonks. She was looking alert, but the pain was visible in her eyes. He really needed to talk to her about Dumbledore and the recent events. '_First chance we get, we'll have a really long conversation about Dumbledore and the way he's fighting this war,_' he thought while arranging some chairs to have some protection. Dudley was behind them both, shaking in fear.

"Dudley, what happened?" Harry asked sharply, when after two minutes nothing came through the door.

Whatever Dudley was about to say was interrupted by a voice from the doorway. "I am afraid I frightened you, child. Please, accept my apologies."

An old man was standing there. His back was bent, and he used a staff to support himself. He was dressed in a plain grey robe. He had long white hair, the same color as his staff. His face was wrinkled, dark eyes peering from under bushy eyebrows. He had a kind smile on his face as he looked at them. He walked towards them slowly, stopping a few yards from their impromptu barricade.

Still shaking, Dudley nodded. "S-Sure," he stuttered.

The man smiled gratefully at him. "Thank you. I did not intend to frighten you, but it has been a long time since mortals last stepped on this island. My manners have eroded during the ages."

Harry stared at him in stunned surprise. Mortals? Ages? How old was this man?

"I am forgetting my manners," the man said. He mumbled something and the small gem set at the top of his staff glowed briefly. Harry suddenly found that his elbows were no longer hurting. A glance at Tonks proved that she too had been healed. The chairs were moved back to the table. Leaning heavily on his staff, the man sat in one of the chairs, motioning for them to take a seat. Stunned to silence, the three took seats facing the man, with Harry in the middle.

"I shall explain as we eat," the old man said, and suddenly the table was filled with food.

Harry eyed the food with suspicion, but Sirius' words came back to him. He was safe on this island. He was also hungry. He started eating, noticing that Dudley and Tonks followed his lead.

Several minutes into the meal Harry broke the silence. "Who are you?" he asked.

The old man took a sip of his goblet of wine, and sighed in satisfaction before replying. "I am the Story Keeper." Seeing their confusion at the title, he elaborated. "This world is made of stories. Everything has its own tale. Everybody has their own tale to spin. I know all the tales, I keep them. At times, I tell my own tales."

This explanation didn't make much sense to Harry, but he thought he got the gist of it.

"Why are you here?", '_And what are you going to do with us?'_ he asked, keeping the second half of the question to himself.

"Your tale tells of great peril, Young Master," the Story Keeper said. "I am here to teach you how to spin your tale. There are great obstacles ahead, for destiny is not easily crossed. But if tales are to be told again, it has to be done."

"Whoa," Tonks said. "Destiny? You mean the prophecy? But that doesn't say anything certain..." she trailed off at Harry's look. "Dumbledore told us after the fight at the Department of Mysteries," she explained meekly. Hanging her head.

Harry nodded, keeping his anger in check. He and Tonks would have a really long talk first chance they got. What was Dumbledore up to?

"So, you will train me?" he asked the Keeper. At the nod he received, he went on, "Train me in what? Like Tonks said, the prophecy doesn't say anything certain, just that it has to be me or him. I don't understand how that is going against destiny. And how exactly am I going to do that? I'm just a kid."

"Young Master, is it not said _neither can live while the other survives_?" he asked. "Life means flying when you want to. Life means doing what you want to. Life is not a fight. You, Young Master, have fought all your life. That is not the way a tale should be spun. I will teach you how to spin a tale of life." He finished in a determined tone.

Harry nodded slowly. They didn't say much after that, focusing on the great meal before them. When they were all done, the Keeper pointed to the doors on the walls. "Through those doors you will find rooms. Choose a room. It is where you will live during your time here. Tomorrow morning we shall discuss a program for us to train in. Feel free to explore the island. The creatures will not harm you unless you provoke or harm them. There are dangerous plants here, so don't eat anything you don't recognize. We will speak in the morning."

With that, he left them.

After a brief discussion they chose rooms, although Tonks was reluctant to do so. She had a job; she couldn't just remain here until the Keeper saw fit to let her leave. But she didn't have a choice. Her wand has disappeared during the Floo trip, and she couldn't cast the communication charm with any other wand. She couldn't Apparate, and she didn't know how to make Portkeys.

The rooms were identical. They were square, with a bed, a closet for clothing and a desk with a chair. Each room had its own bathroom. Harry and Dudley didn't unpack, they were too curious to see the island.

Joined by Tonks, who had chosen the room between Harry's and Dudley's, they made their way outside, where they just sat and stared. They were on the highest point on the island. The path turned left after a few yards, and descended in a gentle slope the near sea-level. Straight ahead of them there was a huge drop to the sea. The view was magnificent, and they spend almost an hour there, watching the shadows of the sparse clouds chase each other on the water.

There was life all around them. Sea birds flew beneath them, and Tonks said that they had nests in the cliff face. A throng of insects eliminated any trace of silence. They saw a rabbit running full tilt down the slope, chased by a fox. They didn't see any animals larger than that, or any magical animals. Harry identified a few magical plants but he had no idea what to do with them.

Eventually they made their way down, taking in the sights. The island wasn't large, and it was dominated by the crag where their rooms were. Other than that, it was flat and grassy. On one side there was a forest, and a stream that came from it, crossing the island to join the sea.

Once they reached the river they stopped. They would have more time for exploration later. Dudley was excited by a place where he would be safe and kept fidgeting until Tonks snapped at him. He set off to explore more of the island. Tonks and Harry sat in an awkward silence for a few minutes, staring at the slow stream.

"I'm sorry," Harry said eventually.

Tonks looked at him in confusion. "Sorry? For what?"

"Because of me you're trapped on this island. Because of me you were hurt," he explained. He knew that she was just doing his job, but he still felt guilty about it.

Tonks stared at the water for a few minutes, thinking about the recent events. What did she have to lose? Back in England, she would become the black sheep of the order again, looked down upon, and sent on the missions where she wouldn't be able to do any damage. Here, she had a chance to train in something new, and she was doing her mission. She smiled evilly at that thought. Her mission had been to guard Harry Potter. She was doing that.

She couldn't wait to see Dumbledore's face when she told him that. The man had changed in the past two years. From the benevolent leader of the light he had turned into a ruthless man, who used people like they were nothing more than pawns.

She knew that Dumbledore meant well, and that he was coping with the situation as well as he could. She had eavesdropped on Minerva McGonagall and Snape once when they were discussing the headmaster. In their opinion, he was losing it. She had heard the phrase "win, no matter what," and it had scared her. She decided that the island was better than the Order or her Auror job.

"Harry, I'm not mad at you for getting me here. I was just doing my job, which is to protect you. If this place offers better protection than the Dursley home then I will be more than happy to keep doing my job here. I will have to see what protection you have here myself, but for now I see no problems about you staying here."

Harry nodded, thankful that she didn't blame him. "I... have one request, Tonks."

She looked at him, waiting for him to elaborate.

"Do not tell Dumbledore or anybody from the Order where we are unless I tell you to. I found out some disturbing things these past few weeks, and I'm not sure who I trust right now."

She nodded. "I have no intention of telling Dumbledore," she said. "And I have no way of telling him. The communication charm only works with my wand, and I lost it." She had a sad expression as she said that. Her wand had become a part of her, and it hurt to lose it.

Harry apologized for her loss and they spent the next few hours discussing the recent events. Harry told her about his inheritance, about Sirius' will and about the things Dumbledore had put him through. Since she knew the prophecy she could see Dumbledore's machinations had started in the night of the death of Lily and James Potter.

As Harry told her of his adventures over the years she drew to a sickening conclusion; it was even more plausible, in the light of Dumbledore's recent behaviour. By the looks of it, Harry had reached the same conclusion.

"He's been shaping me into a one-use weapon," Harry whispered bitterly. "I'm supposed to take down Voldemort and die. Repeat what happened first time, but with no survivors this time." He hugged his knees to his chest, obviously struggling not to cry.

Tonks felt her heart break for the young man in front of her. He was so young, but he'd never been allowed to be a child. She edged closer to him and put her arms around him. He stiffened when he felt her arms, but soon relaxed.

She held him as he cried, vowing to do anything in her power to help him win this war. He deserved to live.

As the young woman comforted Harry, a figure watching from afar smiled. The Young Master had a long tale to spin, and it had already begun.


	9. Chapter Nine

**Escape**

by malko050987

**Chapter Nine**

Disclaimer: I don't own Harry Potter. It should be clear by now, you know?

A/N: Thanks to Ham and LunaMoon224 for betaing for me.

With a yawn, Harry rolled out of bed and entered the small bathroom for a quick shower. The warm water helped wake him up, and he walked out of the bathroom feeling considerably more refreshed and awake.

He dressed in a pair of jeans and a dark gray shirt then walked out of his room to meet Tonks and Dudley for breakfast.

After he'd fallen apart on her the previous night, Tonks had gently coaxed him to his room and out him to bed. He vaguely remembered her stroking his hair as he fell asleep.

"Wotcher, Harry," Tonks called from her place at the table, next to Dudley. Dudley grunted a greeting of his own; he quickly turned to vanishing his meal.

"Morning guys," Harry said, sitting down across from them and filling his plate with some fried eggs and a few pieces of ham.

There was a comfortable silence between them as they ate. When they were done, Dudley excused himself and went outside to do more exploring. Tonks was confused for a bit, but then Harry explained that Dudley had been locked in his room for almost a year, and she nodded in understanding. Of course he would want to be in the open air as much as possible.

The dirty dishes had vanished once they had concluded with their breakfast, and the table was clear. Tonks was leaning back in her chair, looking at the ceiling, seemingly unaware of him.

"Umm... Tonks?"

She blinked and turned to look at him. "Yes, Harry?"

He fidgeted for a few seconds in his chair. "Look, about last night, I -"

"Don't worry about it, Harry. I'm glad I was there to help you. When I get back to England, Dumbledore will get yelled at. He had no right to do everything he's done. How could he do that to an innocent child..." she trailed off. She shook the dark thoughts off and smiled weakly at him.

"What are you going to do now, Harry?" she asked in an effort to change the subject.

Harry put his elbows on the table and leaned forward, his forehead creased as he thought. "I'm going to train, especially in Occlumency, if I can find out how. I need to work on my spells, too. At the Department of Mysteries I only used a few spells, and I need to know more spells than those."

She nodded and motioned for him to continue, interested in his plans.

"I suppose I'll have to do some physical training too," he said thoughtfully. "Dudley might help with that, he used to take boxing lessons, and I'm sure he learned something there."

"Sounds like a good plan," the young Auror said. "I will help you as much as I can, but I'm afraid there isn't much I can do without my wand."

"Much can be done with, and more can be done without."

Harry and Tonks both jumped as the Keeper walked into the room and sat at the table.

"Good morning, Young Master," he said, nodding to Harry. "Changeling," he said, addressing Tonks, "why do you have such great need of a stick?"

Tonks looked angry for a moment, then relaxed. "I cannot cast spells without it," she explained and the old man nodded.

"Hmm..."

Rising to his feet, he walked to the fireplace. The small flame in it turned green and he stuck his hand in. After a few moments he withdrew it, holding a familiar wand.

Tonks ran to him and took it gently, with an expression of joy and gratitude on her face. She raised it and Harry shot to his feet, his own wand out. Before he could say anything Tonks lowered her wand and looked at him in apology. "Sorry, I was just going to shoot off some sparks."

He dropped back in his chair but kept his wand in hand, even if it was pointed at the floor now. Tonks walked and sat in the chair next to his while the Keeper moved another chair so they could sit in a triangle.

"I meant what I said yesterday, Harry. I won't send any message to anybody," she said seriously.

Harry looked in her eyes and after a moment she turned them into a light grey, holding his gaze. A minute later, he nodded and smiled at her.

"Sorry," he said simply.

She just grinned at him. "Don't be sorry. If I were in your place I would have sent several curses just in case."

They both chuckled and the Keeper smiled at the interaction, before his face turned serious and he addressed them.

"Young Master, I promised yesterday I shall teach you," he said slowly. Harry nodded. "I know that you will want to do other training too, so I shall come back before sunset, and begin our tale then."

With that, the Story Keeper walked out, leaving Harry and Tonks behind. They spent a few minutes going over their training plans before going outside to find Dudley. The boy was near the forest, and came running when he saw them.

"This place is brilliant!" he panted, throwing himself on the soft grass, eliciting grins from Harry and Tonks.

They were sitting on the grass a few yards from the stream. After Dudley regained his breath they outlined their training plans to him and he agreed to help, even if he seemed wary to be around so much magic.

They spent the time before lunch exploring the island, and found little unusual. They didn't hear many animals, except for the occasional rabbit and fox, and they didn't enter the forest.

After a very filling lunch the three moved to a clear part of the large hall. Harry and Tonks spent two hours trying to hex each other senseless. Most times Tonks won, although Harry managed to stun her once. While they were dueling, Dudley watched, dodging the occasional spell that went his way.

When they were done, Harry took out the defense books he'd ordered and Tonks helped him cast the ones she was familiar with. She taught him an Auror specific shield spell, considerably more powerful than the standard Protego spell.

Tonks left the two teens to work on physical exercises while she looked through Harry's books for something new to teach him the following few days.

Two hours later, Harry was prepared to swear on anything that Dudley was more evil than Voldemort. His entire body was telling him that he was in pain. And Dudley kept pushing him.

"C'mon Harry, you _have _to stretch, or you will regret this in the morning," Dudley said in exasperation.

With a grumble, Harry stood and stretched for a few minutes, until Dudley said he could rest for the day. Harry looked around him, contemplated walking to the chairs, and dropped like a stone to the floor. It was comfortable enough, as far as he was concerned.

When Dudley laughed at him, Harry grinned evilly and said, "Dudley, don't be so happy. Starting tomorrow, you are joining me in all classes. I know that you can't do magic, but you have to know about it, because I have lots of enemies and they will find you. When they do, I want you to be able to protect yourself, even if all you do is run away from them."

Dudley gaped at him for a few moments before nodding in acceptance. What Harry had said was true; on top of that, it never hurt to keep in shape.

The two of them spent some time talking about different strategies in case of attacks by magic. As they talked, it was apparent that Harry needed to make another trip to the continent, to get more books, and some Muggle equipment.

When the Story Keeper joined them, the sun was just above the horizon, its light red and comforting. The old man shooed Tonks and Dudley away and motioned Harry to the fireplace.

Once they were both seated in chairs facing each other, the lights in the hall went out. Only the dying sunlight from outside and the small flame in the fireplace lit their faces, and Harry found that he was holding his breath. He released it slowly when the Keeper began talking.

"Today we begin our tale, Young Master," the old man said. "I shall teach you how to build your tale. It shall be a never-ending task, and it will not be easy. But I have the utmost confidence that you can do it."

Harry's heart swelled at the words and the tone in which they had been said. It was the tone Dumbledore has used after he had rescued the Philosopher's Stone. Caring, grandfatherly, wise. He felt safe then, in the almost darkness with only a small flame and an old man as his companions.

"What do I have to do?" he whispered, afraid to break the silence, but determined to learn.

"First, look within you. Look at your power. Search for it, and when you have found it, embrace it. Study it. When you have managed to do that, we shall progress to the next step."

Harry nodded, even though he hadn't completely understood what the Keeper was referring to. He had a suspicion, however, and closed his eyes, calming his breath.

Slowly, he turned all his awareness inside, ignoring the outside world. It was a meditative technique that he'd learned in the book about Occlumency, and he hoped it would help him.

He looked deeper and deeper within himself, deeper than he'd ever looked, until he saw the bright strands of his magic. He approached one of them and started moving towards its source. It was slow going, because something resisted him, but he managed to do it, and finally breached the barrier.

What he saw almost brought him out of his trance.


	10. Chapter Ten

**Escape**

by malko050987

**Chapter Ten**

Disclaimer: I don't own Harry Potter or anything related.

A/N: Many thanks to LunaMoon224 for looking over this for me.

--

_What he saw almost brought him out of his trance. _

--

It was as if he was both inside himself and outside. He saw the frown of concentration on his face, the attentive look of the Keeper, the soft, reddish glow of the fireplace. Slowly, more glows appeared everywhere. Everything had its own glow, made of different colors, overlapping and mixing, writhing, seeming to _make_ the objects they shaped. He got the distinct feeling that if he could change a color, or the way it was set, he would change things. However, the moment he tried to move, he was snapped out of his trance.

The transition was so abrupt that it gave him a blinding headache. He blinked and pressed a hand against his temple.

"You have seen the colors, yes?" the Keeper enquired, his tone hinting at excitement.

Harry nodded silently. The worst of the headache seemed to have gone, and now he was looking curiously at the things around him. In the corner of his eyes, he fancied that he could still see the vague, writhing colors.

"The colors you saw are the magic that makes the world around us. Affecting an object's inherent magic will change the object. For example, if I was to change the colors, or add a new color to the fireplace, the flames might brighten. Or they would dim, or the fireplace would explode." He accentuated his last words. "There is no way to know, or predict how the magic will react to your interference. Some people," he nodded towards Harry, "can influence the colors with great concentration. I do not advise it. You are dealing with pure magic, and nothing can contain, or predict, magic."

The Keeper was silent after that, and Harry fidgeted for a few minutes. Finally, he couldn't wait any longer and asked, "But how does that help me? If I can't do anything to the colors, why even know they're there?"

Calmly, the Keeper lifted an arm and snapped his fingers, creating a small ball that hovered between them.

"You cannot safely modify the existent colors, Young Master. But you can make your own."

"I -" Harry's question was cut short by the ball, which hit him square in the forehead, bouncing away. Before Harry could do anything, the ball came at him again. He dove out of its way.

"Concentrate on the colors that make the ball. Once you see them clearly, create an obstacle that can stop it," the Keeper said.

Harry dodged the ball again, muttering a curse. For a second, he contemplated drawing his wand and hexing the ball to pieces. He gave up on the idea immediately. This was not wand magic... perhaps it wasn't even magic. He could do this. As the ball flew past him once again, he turned and watched it, narrowing his eyes.

At first only vague traces of the colors were visible, but they slowly faded into view. Reds and yellows made up most of the base f the ball, while the upper half was lighter in colors, ending with a pure white tip.

Harry visualized a large gray square in front of the box. A second later, the ball hit him in the forehead.

His second and third attempts were much similar. Before trying the fourth time, he slapped the ball as it flew past him, increasing its momentum, and giving him more time to work on his obstacle. It was getting harder to see the colors.

This time, he watched the ball and focused on creating an opposite. He didn't think of a shape or color, so he was very surprised when another ball appeared. He noticed that this one was made of just the colors, not having a space in the physical world. It was the same size as the other ball, but it was blue and green, with a darkening tone towards the top, ending in an inky black tip. The new ball swooped in the path of the other one, and they seemed to merge for a second, before vanishing. A regular tennis ball fell on the floor, bouncing a few times before stopping.

Harry grinned happily. He had done it!

"Well done," the Keeper said. He hadn't left his seat next to the fireplace while Harry was running and jumping around the room. He stood now and walked towards the door. "Go to sleep now. Tomorrow, you will have two balls." With that, the door closed behind him.

Harry groaned and opened the door to his room, heading directly for the shower. Hot water eased the pain in his limbs. There was a large bruise forming on his forehead, and he vowed to himself not to let the balls hit him again.

Once he was in his bed, sleep failed to claim him. His scar was tingling faintly, and he hoped that Voldemort wasn't doing anything major. He turned and twisted for a few minutes before sitting up, accepting that he wasn't going to sleep in a hurry.

Staring at the door of his room, he wondered what Ron and Hermione were up to. Had Dumbledore done something to them too? What were the Weasleys doing? Were they missing him? He knew that he missed them, their loud gatherings and light bantering. When around the large red-headed family, he felt at home, in a way. Their affection for him was genuine, he was sure of it, and in all his memory, they were the only people who had shown him unconditioned love, liking him for who he was, not for The-Boy-Who-Lived, or James Potter.

Pondering his friends and his adopted family, he finally fell asleep. Bare minutes after closing his eyes, he could see again, but it was tinged with red. For a moment, Harry had no idea what was happening. Suddenly, a voice hissed, sounding so close that the started.

"Welcome, Harry. I'm glad you accepted my invitation," Voldemort said. The voice was coming from a few feet away in the complete darkness that surrounded him. However, despite the source of the voice remaining still, Harry felt another consciousness moving towards him. Instinctively, he tried to return to his own mind, to wake up, but he was trapped.

He tried to create a shield, but it was blasted apart. He kept making shields, but Voldemort just kept coming, almost absent-absentmindedly destroying his defenses.

"You can't win here, Harry. In my head, I am the winner. Always."

The contemptuous tone used by the snake-like figure made Harry redouble his efforts. The place they were in suddenly turned into an arena, with him on one side and Voldemort on the other. Only Voldemort wasn't the figure that reminded Harry so much of Nagini. He was a tall, handsome young man that reminded Harry of the memory-riddle from the diary.

The spectator stands of the arena were empty. The sky above them was read, with clouds that dripped large, red drops on the sodden ground. Harry's shoes were covered in the dark red mud, and it made a sickening squelching noise when Harry took a few steps forward.

With surprise, Harry saw that he, too, had been changed. He was trapped in his eleven-year old body, with his too small hands and skinny build. Looking back at Voldemort, he wondered if that was the way the evil man was thinking of him. A frightened first year, facing a powerful, handsome young man.

"Do you like my little playground?" Voldemort sneered. "Some of the Best Occlumentists in the world have found their end here. Soon, you will be gone as well, and your body will remain a mindless husk, ready to obey my every command."

With that, he launched his attack. Soon, Harry learned that this battle was similar to the one they've had before, with the exception of the added visual element.

Hastily summoning a brittle wall before him, Harry cursed himself for forgetting his Occlumency practice. He was hopeless in such a battle.

Hiding behind another shield, he was amazed to see a vague trace of the magical colors. His shield was shattered and he squinted, concentrating with all his might. He ignored the colors writhing all around the arena, focusing on the sickly green one connecting him to Voldemort. There was a red strand as well and he focused on cutting it.

He felt, more than saw, Voldemort's attack. Before the magic could reach him, the red strand was cut, and he vanished, leaving behind a very angry Voldemort.

He opened his eyes and gasped at the pain in his scar. He was back in his room. The Keeper was at the edge of his bed, with a hand on his forehead. The old man shushed Harry before the boy could ask anything.

"You needed help. We shall speak of this no more."

After those few words, the Keeper left, leaving Harry with a thousand questions and no answers.

--

Harry yawned and rolled over. He had never been so thankful it was his birthday before. Laughingly, Dudley had said that as a present, Harry was excused from training that day. Harry had laughed gratefully, despite detecting the sadness in Dudley's voice. Harry knew that Dudley wanted to give him a better present, but he didn't have any money, and no way of making something. He thought about what he could do for Dudley. The boy had completely changed in the time they had spent on the island, and it was a good change, as far as Harry was concerned. He yawned again, deciding that he knew what to do. But first he was going to spend more time in his bed. Sleeping in was great, he decided. It was not to be, however.

Loud knocks on the door preceded Tonks in his room. Paying no heed to his muttered "G' 'way", she grabbed his foot and proceeded to drag him off the bed.

"C'mon, birthday boy, this day is meant for fun, not sleep!" Tonks yelled, just as he reached the edge of the bed.

Five minutes and many swearwords later, a much more awake Harry and a grinning Tonks made their way to breakfast. The Keeper was there as well, holding a small package.

"Happy birthday, Young Master," the old man said, holding out the package the moment Harry sat down at the table.

"Thank you," Harry said, accepting the square, paper-wrapped box.

After a filling breakfast, Harry leaned back in his chair. They were all still at the table, enjoying a moment of relaxation. The past weeks had been tiring. Exhausting, if Harry was to be believed. He spent his entire day training. Learning. In the morning, physical training with Dudley and Tonks. First just exercise, then trying to avoid being hit by Tonks' spells. After a quick, light lunch it was time for spell training, and this time Dudley was only a spectator, and sometimes a victim of the more harmless spells.

When Tonks declared that Harry had learned enough for the day, the Keeper would teach him more about the colors and magical plane. Harry still needed to fall into a trance before being able to see the colors of the magical plane, but it was a shorter time every time he tried it. After exiting the trance, the effects lasted for about half an hour, allowing him to dodge the Keeper's attacks and learn more about the functions of the colors. At night, he barely had time to do his Occlumency exercises before falling asleep.

"Keeper, would it be alright for us to visit Diagon alley today?" Harry asked. At the man's inquiring gaze, he went on. "We need some more equipment for the physical training, and it wouldn't hurt to get some books. That way, Dudley and Tonks would have something to do while you and I train."

"Uhm... Harry, that's alright, I don't need to study, or anything," Tonks said, grinning at him. Harry had often expressed his displeasure that they got to laze around in the evening while he was doing his best to remain in one piece. "I agree with Harry, Keeper. There are things I can't teach him, and from what Dudley has told me, the equipment is essential."

Dudley nodded, keeping his mouth shut. He had been unusually quiet this morning, saying nothing past wishing Harry a happy birthday. Harry wondered if something was wrong, but didn't have the time to ask.

He took the gift from the Keeper in his room and left it on his bed. He'd open it later, after they got back. After he exited his room, the three who were going to leave the island talked about the details, agreeing from the start which shops they needed to visit and why. The Keeper suggested a visit to some of their friends, or at least a letter, and Dudley reminded Harry to buy Hedwig some owl treats.

The owl had followed them to the island, and was happily spending her days out in the open. Dudley spent his free time outside, just enjoying the free air and all the animals. He and Hedwig were getting along just fine, to Harry's amusement.

Finally, they were ready to leave. They assembled in front of the fireplace and Tonks took the bag of Floo powder from the Keeper.

"Travel safe!" the old man called as they vanished one after the other.

--

Diagon Alley had changed since Harry had last been there. Gone were the large crowds and noisy shopkeepers. The few shopped kept to themselves or traveled in groups, moving quickly and speaking quietly.

Harry pulled his hood so his face was covered better and made his way towards the Owl Emporium. Tonks and Dudley shared a glance, after which Tonks dashed off, only Dudley following Harry.

After a few minutes of Dudley looking at every owl in the place, comparing them to Hedwig, Tonks joined them. Harry ignored her lateness, acting as if it hadn't happened. He trusted the young Auror to not betray him, and he was fairly certain she had bought him a gift.

Before leaving Diagon Alley (they had to drag Dudley away from the entrance to the Magical Menagerie), Tonks made a quick entry to Knockturn Alley, returning with a small stack of books and a bag with something that clinked as she shifted it in her hands.

"Okay, do we need to get anything else from here?" she asked the two teens.

"I could do with a refill for my broom kit, but it can wait until school starts," Harry said while Dudley merely shook his head.

"Okay, birthday boy," Tonks replied grinning at him, her face an eerie reflection of his. "Lead the way out of here, we're going to Muggle London and you'll be our guide."

Harry headed towards the Leaky Cauldron, smiling slightly at the hushed conversation he could hear behind him. He quickened his steps, entering through the arch. He stopped before entering the Cauldron, waiting for his friends.

Together, the three entered and were almost to the exit before a voice stopped them.

"Tonks?"

"Harry?"

"Harry!"

Harry considered the thought of running, but he was loath to leave the speakers like that. They had never hurt him in any way. He nodded resignedly at Tonks and the three made their way to the table from which they had been hailed.

"Hello, Remus, Fred, George," he said in a blank tone while Tonks was more enthusiast about her greeting and Dudley was just looking at the twins in fear. To his credit, his hands were firmly on the table.

"Hello, Harry," Remus said slowly.

Harry nodded at the man. "Hello, Remus." His tone was cold, distant, and Remus flinched while Tonks half-glared at Harry.

"How are you, Harry?" Remus asked.

"I'm-" Harry started to say fine but the look on Remus' face showed him that he wouldn't be believed. "- angry."

"An unhealthy emotion," one of the twins replied while the other cast a few privacy charms around them.

Remus sighed. "I'm can't say how sorry I am, Harry. Since being kicked from the Order-"

"You were kicked from the Order!" both Harry and Tonks exclaimed.

Remus nodded. "Two weeks ago, we were searching for you, Harry, when I got into an argument with Molly about you and Sirius. I was very angry, and did something that I shouldn't have. Two days later, Dumbledore asked for my resignation from the Order."

"And we got one of the best pranking minds as our consultant," Fred said, giving Remus a friendly pat on the back.

"You've been fired too," George told Tonks, far more cheerful than he should have been. "Dumbledore sent you a Howler about it, but it came back," he explained, grinning.

"So Harry, where've you been?" George asked, taking a large gulp from his Butterbeer bottle.

After a few moments to think about his answer, Harry decided that he could trust Remus. He wasn't certain about the twins, though.

"Here and there," he said vaguely.

"There is a nice place, or so I've heard," Fred said, nodding wisely.

"Everybody's been looking for you like crazy," Remus said, throwing Fred an exasperated look.

"I didn't want to be found," Harry replied coolly. "I still don't want to be found," he said in a low tone.

George raised his arms to placate him. "Don't worry, Harry, we're not gonna go tell anybody anything. Were on the same side, after all."

"Yeah, and who would we talk to?"

"Mum doesn't speak to us-"

"Ginny has threatened to castrate us-"

"Ron wants to punch us-"

"Dumbledore wants us to feed you sweets-"

"And we didn't even do anything!" George finished.

"I think that's the whole point, brother mine," Fred said, pretending to whisper. George just grinned back.

Remus looked at the twins fondly. "I think I should do the explaining."

At Harry's nod and Tonks' bright smile, he ran a hand through his graying hair and cleared his throat. "After you vanished, Dumbledore ordered an Order meeting. He sent us all to search for you two. Up until now, I had no idea Dudley was with you," he said, nodding at Dudley. "Molly was one of the most persistent searchers, assisted by Ron and Ginny. Bill is on an assignment for Gringotts in Egypt and Charlie is still in Romania.

"Anyway, the two carrot-headed pranksters here said they had better things to do than search for somebody who obviously didn't want to be found. The rest of the Weasleys and Dumbledore weren't pleased."

"They weren't pleased to see the special Order rates we now have at the shop," Fred put in.

"As I was saying, Molly wasn't pleased. She berated them for a few minutes, until Fred said something that I didn't understand," he finished with a questioning look towards Fred.

Fred exchanged a look with his twin before nodding grimly.

"Harry, what I am about to tell you will seem hard to believe. I am willing to answer this same questions under the effects of Veritaserum."

Harry looked at the twins in confusion. What could be so serious?

"Harry... I- we don't know how to tell you..."

"How about you start from the beginning?" Tonks snapped.

Fred blinked and nodded. "What I told Mum the day we had that row was, 'No true Weasley would do what you are doing, thief'. It shut her up," he explained.

"Thief? Why would you call Mrs. Weasley a thief?" Harry asked, confused. "And why would it shut her up?"

The twins winced at Harry's tone. It was not going to be pretty. "Harry, she's been stealing from our potions ingredients ever since you first visited the Burrow. She is a good potion maker, and with Ginny's help, they make several potions-"

"That they feed to you, in the food," Fred finished.

Harry rocked back in his chair, stunned. It wasn't true! Mrs. Weasley loved him, she wouldn't do that to him!

"Do you know why she was so eager to find you, Harry?"

"The dose you've had needs to be replenished today."

"Ginny and Ron - know?" Harry stammered his question, certain that he didn't want to know the answer.

With sad faces, the twins nodded. "Once they realized that we know, they threatened us to keep silent about it. We decided that it was too sensitive to put in a letter, and have been brewing antidotes to give you first time we got a chance."

"Hermione?"

"We don't know. She might now, she might not know. I doubt she'd agree, since the loyalty potion is illegal, but you can never tell."

"Dumbledore?"

"She... might have done something to him, too. But we don't know what. All I know that when somebody disagrees with Mum, or goes against her, Dumbledore takes her side-"

"And drastic action."

Harry sighed. Why did everything have to happen to him? And why would kind Mrs. Weasley do something like that? Money? He'd give them all the money in his vault if they asked for it. A relationship with Ginny? He shook his head. Ginny was a great girl, and had been a great friend the past year, but she was more of a sister than a girlfriend. Fame?

"Control," Remus said suddenly, apparently guessing Harry's thoughts. "They wanted to control you, Harry. Make you do what they wanted..."

"And Mum is an ambitious woman," George said grimly, emptying his bottle.

--

Their trip to Muggle London wasn't as fun as they expected it to be. They got what they wanted and Floo-ed back to Griffin Island, emotionally and physically exhausted. That night, Harry tossed and turned in his sleep, dreaming of a pretty, loving, faces turning around to reveal monsters with tentacles spread everywhere, trying to grab him, to twist him.

--

A/N: Well, this chapter has had some interesting revelations. I hope you guys aren't too angry about what I did/didn't do :) As always, reviews are appreciated.

Chris, who is off to work on the next chapter.


	11. Chapter Eleven

**Escape**

by malko050987

**Chapter Eleven**

Disclaimer: I didn't, don't and won't own Harry Potter.

A/N: Thanks to Ham and LunaMoon224 for all their work on making this chapter a better work. As always, reviews are appreciated :) Many thanks to all of you who have read and reviewed. On a related note, who do you guys want as a pairing for HArry? It will not be Tonks, as she has another role to play. I have my own plans, but it would be nice to hear who you'd like to see, and the reasons for it.

--

It was a somber Harry that made his way to the breakfast table the next morning. He couldn't remember ever having such a bad birthday, not even from the times before Hogwarts. He responded with a apathetic nod at the greetings of his friends, and began filling his plate, even though he had absolutely no desire to eat.

Two bites later, he pushed his plate away and let his head fall on the table. Tonks eyed him worriedly, and then glanced at the Keeper. 'We have to do something,' she mouthed at him, nodding towards the still form of Harry.

Dudley watched the interaction between the two with large eyes, pausing in his eating to do so. The sudden stop of Dudley's chewing made Harry look up. "What's the matter?" he asked, seeing Tonks' worried face.

"You," she said bluntly.

Before he had a chance to reply, the Keeper spoke up. "Harry, today we will be doing something new. Now that you are 16, you are ready to begin weaving the threads of your tale in the tale of the world." It was said in a formal tone of voice, and Harry reacted instinctively. His back straightened, and he looked towards the old man with an eager expression.

"Let us first gather outside, and then we shall begin. Changeling, if you would join us." With that, the Keeper turned and left through the large doors. Shrugging, Harry went after him, followed by a curious Tonks and a still chewing Dudley.

They descended towards the river, stopping a few yards from it. Once there, the Keeper turned to Tonks. "Work your magic on that rock," he said, pointing at a large rock near Harry. "Lift in the air, and hold it there."

Tonks nodded and then levitated the rock to an haieght of about a dozen feet, holding it there. Meanwhile, the Keeper had Harry enter a trance so he could activate his magic sight. It was getting faster and faster now, and Harry was confident that soon he would be able to do it instinctively, without entering the trance.

"Now, look at the rock, Young Master," the Keeper said when Harry was out of the trance.

The rock was clearly outlined in his eyes, a blob of barely magical nature. It was plain as day to Harry. He had seen stone and rock before, and didn't know why the Keeper wanted him to do this.

"Now, look beyond the natural, wild magic. Look at the controlled force, surrounding the rock."

Harry thought for a few moments, wondering how he could do this. He had wondered before about the differences between the natural magic and the wand magic, and why he could only see one of them.

His question was answer when the Keeper made a motion and Harry saw a veil of magic lift from his eyes. He had to close his eyes and give them a bit of time to adjust before he opened them again.

_Magic is bright,_ was his first thought. Natural magic, wild magic came in all colors, but none of them were bright, or hurt his eyes. But the magic that was currently surrounding the boulder, connected to Tonks, looked like a furnace would. A burning, sizzling, spitting furnace.

"In a few moments, your eyes will adjust to seeing controlled magic, and then we shall proceed."

Harry nodded and did his best to keep looking at the magic-engulfed boulder. The dull colors of the natural magic were almost invisible when compared to the brightness of the spell. The spell itself was bright gold color. Harry followed the line, tracing it with his eyes to Tonks, and he shielded his eyes with his hands.

If the spell was a furnace, Tonks was a star. Bright shades of gold formed her shape, impossible to watch with the naked eye. However, after almost a minute, Harry saw the brightness diminish, until it wasn't unbearable anymore. Tonks was still very bright, as well as her spell, but Harry found that it didn't bother his eyes. He took that as a sign that his eyes had adjusted.

"You can see properly, now, yes?" the Keeper inquired.

Harry nodded. "It doesn't hurt my eyes anymore."

"I am sorry for the bother, but I had to place that block there before we began our training, or you wouldn't have learned properly," the Keeper explained, seeming truly sorry for his action.

Harry smiled and nodded. "No need to apologize, teacher."

He missed the look of surprise and approval that appeared in the Keeper's eyes at his words.

"Now," the Keeper said after a few moments in which Harry turned his head all around to take in the new way things looked, "you shall attempt to affect the controlled magics."

"Attempt?" Harry asked, raising an eyebrow at the Keeper.

"Attempt, yes," the old man replied with a smile. He backed away a few steps, motioning for Dudley to follow him. The boy couldn't do magic or help in any way, but everybody agreed that it would help if he knew how magic worked, so he could escape it, or know what to do. Tonks followed the two men away from Harry, keeping the stone in the same position. Soon, there was a large clear space around Harry, and the Keeper nodded at the boy. "Now, change the Levitation Charm, but leave the rock the same as it is."

Harry gave a curt nod of acknowledgment and turned to the rock, squinting. He willed a counter to the Levitation Charm to appear and a dark, almost black, blue shimmer formed around the boulder.

The next moment, he was chocking on dust from the disintegration of the boulder. A large cloud of dust was still in the air, help by Tonks' spell. However, most of the boulder was strewn all around him, in the form of fine, gray dust.

"Acclaro!" Tonks said, making a sweeping motion with her wand. All the dust cleared, except the particles that had landed on Harry. He was still rubbing at his tearing eyes when he felt a bolt of magic head straight towards him.

Instinctively, he created a barrier in front of the spell, and dived out of the way. He heard a gasp and a sizzling sound. He rubbed at his eyes a bit more and then decided he could see well enough and look around him. Dudley was gaping at him. Next to Dudley, the Keeper was watching him with an approving look. Tonks, on the other side, was looking at the barrier he'd created, wand still pointed. To his naked eye, it was visible only as a large oval, with a burnt, sizzling mark in the center, where the spell had struck.

Squinting, he looked at the magic of his shield. It was a large, golden oval. The same golden color as Tonks, the same color of her spell.

"Every magic controller has a different color. In order to affect them, and their magic, you must use compatible magic," the Keeper said, nodding towards Tonks, who was still staring at the shield.

Harry looked at the shield as it slowly dissipated, a frown on his face. "But then, how do spells affect other people?" he asked, squinting his eyes to catch the very last bit of magic as it vanished.

"That is how spells are worked, Harry. Magic users, especially through wands but wandless as well, can use their magic, their controlled magic, to affect their environment. But it is controlled magic. As you've seen, it doesn't affect the magic of the items. It simply covers it. Overwhelms it."

Harry agreed. The spell had been bright, much brighter than any natural magic he'd ever seen. "So that's why natural magic and obstacles won't work on controlled magic?" he asked, running a hand through his dusty hair.

The Keeper paused for a moment, as if pondering as to how best to frame his answer. "Yes and no. They are both magics, and everything is connected. Deep down, magic is magic. Through natural magic, one can change the controlled magic. Tell me, what would have happened if, instead of attempting to nullify the spell, you would have enlarged the boulder?"

"The - the spell would have gotten wider."

"And weaker," Tonks said. At Dudley's look, she elaborated, "Once cast, a spell is just that. A spell. You can't change its power, or form, effect... or anything. At the Auror academy, we had to cast different spells on all sorts of thing, so we became familiar with what spell it took for different situations. One of those tests was a Levitation Charm on a large table. Once in the air, the other Aurors would levitate things on the table." She shrugged. "If you didn't make the charm strong from the start, it would fail almost immediately."

Silence followed her words, as Harry thought about the implication of what he'd just learned. That meant that if under a trance, he could overwhelm and destroy any spell? But what had made the shield appear? And why had the shield succeeded in stopping the spell?

"Keeper, does that mean that I can destroy any spell?" Harry asked. "Or at least block them?"

"I do now know. Yes, it would be possible, but it would take massive amounts of concentration, and it may be years, even decades, before you are ready for such a feat. But I am certain that if you want to, you would be able to block most wizards, save for the very powerful ones, such as-"

"Voldemort," said Harry, at the same time Tonks whispered, "Dumbledore."

The Keeper nodded at them. "Yes. Those two are perfect examples of that which I speak of."

"Um... what about Harry's shield?" Dudley asked. "How did he made it appear when Tonks cast a spell at him? And why did it stop the spell?"

"What spell, exactly?" Harry whispered to Tonks.

"Cleaning Charm," a blushing Tonks answered just as the Keeper began talking.

"I believe that Harry raised that shield on a purely instinctual level." At Harry's nod, the Keeper continued. "To deflect, or neutralize, controlled magic, such as spells, you need to use the same type of magic. On pure instinct, Harry imitated Tonks' magical signature and wove it into his shield."

"Fight fire with fire," Dudley concluded, a frown on his face. At Harry's surprised look, he shrugged sheepishly. 'I've had a lot to read,' he mouthed, and Harry nodded in understanding.

"Yes, Dudley. Of course, Harry, you could imitate any other magical signature, including yours. This is what we will be working on tonight. It would be much easier for you to simply use your own magical signature, instead of duplicating other people's."

The Keeper glanced at the sun and turned towards the woods. "I shall let you have lunch. After lunch, we will continue training in the hall. Changeling, I would require your assistance."

"Of course," Tonks said, grinning at the old man. He had said that he'd never accept to call her by the name 'Tonks' and she had forbidden him to call her Nymphadora. But she loved the term 'Changeling'. 'It's who I am. It's _what_ I am,' she had explained to Harry, who had first thought it was insulting.

The three climbed back towards the building they lived in, talking of the new discoveries they had made.

--

That evening, Harry crashed onto his bed and groaned. He heard his door open behind him and Tonks' snigger at his position. He tried telling her to go away, but it came out as a mumble, causing Tonks to laugh.

A few seconds later, she sat on the edge of his bed and waved her wand over him. Immediately, he felt a lot more rested. His muscles were still aching, and he was still very, very tired, but it was much better than before. The training had lasted for six hours, leaving Harry completely drained, magically and physically. He was now able to focus on the Sight with only five minutes of preparations, and he could easily intercept and deflect or destroy most spells that Tonks threw at him. But through the pain in his limbs, it was very hard to feel grateful.

"Whaddyawant?" he asked from his prone position.

"I- Harry, we need to talk." She sounded nervous, and he rolled over to look at her.

Her hair was a mousy brown, not the bright pink she favored. She was holding a crumpled parchment in her hand. At his inquisitive look, she handed it to him. He straightened the parchment and his eyes widened in surprise at the heading.

"I thought letters couldn't get here," he half-asked, half-stated, staring at her in confusion.

"So did I," she replied, climbing on the bed and leaning against the wall, knees drawn to her chest. Tears shone in her eyes as she repeated, "So did I."

Harry had no idea how to deal with a crying Tonks, so he latched on the first distraction, and read the letter.

_Dear Tonks (and Harry),_

_I've been trying to send you a letter ever since the two of you have disappeared. For two weeks, I wrote a letter every day, but each came back unanswered. For a while I gave up._

_But after our meeting at the Cauldron, I tried again, and I hope that this letter finds you safely. _

_We did not have much time to chat while at the Cauldron (Happy birthday Harry, by the way, I will give you your gift the first time we meet), unfortunately, so I will ask my questions here, and hope that they will be answered. _

_How are you, Tonks? Perhaps it is not my place to pry, but these are not easy times, and fate has not been nice to you lately. If there is anything that I can assist you with, let me know. You are not alone, Dora. Remember my words._

_Tell Harry that I will help him in any way possible, and that the twins are with me too. He is my last link to James and Sirius, and I do not want to lose him too. _

_After our encounter at the Cauldron, we spent a few hours at the WWW, discussing our plans. We want to help Harry in any way, but since he's away from us, Fred proposed we sabotage the potions that are controlling the Headmaster. _

_As of yet, we do not know exactly what potions are used, although I'm guessing at a _Coercere Potion_. For Harry's benefit, this particular potion is odorless, has a slight bitter taste, and renders the user very malleable to outside influence. _

_George doesn't think that this potion has been used, since he tried convincing Dumbledore to let him set his beard on fire, and Dumbledore was against the idea. If that potion had been used, he would have cheerfully allowed George to set his beard on fire. _

_There are several other potions, but they all have various disadvantages that we can find no proof of. The _CoercerePotion_ doesn't need to be administered regularly, once every few months is enough. All other control potions or charms need to be enforced weekly, or even more often, especially on a person as powerful as Dumbledore._

_I suggested a love potion, although it is rather obvious that one has not been used. Dumbledore treats Molly in the same way he treats everybody. If she'd used a love potion, he would be acting far more different. _

_I did some research, and found some more obscure potions, but as of yet, we don't know their exact effect. We are still looking, though, and I hope we'll soon be able to find something. Not having access to the Order library is a great drawback, but being separated from them is much better than being a puppet in Molly's power games. _

_Fred has felt the air around Ginny, trying to see what she wants from you, and if the potion you were fed is the same Dumbledore received. _

_Tonks, when you tell this to Harry, make sure to be near him. Fred made a quite disturbing discovery, and I'm certain that Harry will need a friend close to him when he finds out what that little tart did to him. _

_Tonks, Ginny gave him the _Dominium Caritas_. I have no idea where she got the ingredients from, since that potion is illegal, as well as more than half of the ingredients in it. I do not know if it can be broken, Tonks. Not without a potion even more complex. _

_Fred and George are contacting everybody they know in search for a book on advanced potion that might have an antidote for the _Dominium._ Meanwhile, Harry must avoid Ginny AT ALL COSTS. _

_That potion will make him her slave if she kisses him. Once they kiss, he will be unable to feel affection for anybody else besides her, and it is not breakable. Fortunately, this will only be true if he kisses her willingly, and I hope that Harry will understand the gravity of this situation and not so something this foolish. _

_I will continue trying to find a counter for that potion, and try to find out what other potion Harry has been fed. I'm certain that Molly had another potion in him, something that has been proved by her desperation on the 31st, when she contacted Fred and demanded that he tell her where Harry is. _

_By her behavior, I believe that Harry was under a time-limited potion, that needed to be taken once every year for it to be effective. Tell him that he should learn food protection charms, and practice them until they are second-nature. I do not want him to become a tool, Dora. He means too much to me._

_Your wolf,_

_Remus Lupin_

_PS: We have not been able to contact Hermione yet, but George is looking into it._

Harry let the letter fall out of his suddenly forceless fingers. Control him? Use him? Keep him for herself? Cute, smart Ginny Weasley that owed her life to him?

With a cry of anger, he squinted his eyes and willed the colors to flare to life. Once surrounded by the myriads of colors, he began striking at them, systematically destroying all the furniture in his room.

It was only when Tonks' slim arms wrapped around him that he stopped and closed his eyes, letting his tears fall. She held on to him as he dropped to his knees. It was hours before their tears were spent, and Tonks deposited a sleeping Harry on his bed; the bed was the only furniture remaining in the room. All others had been reduced to matchstick size or smaller. After that, she returned to her own room, falling into a restless sleep that left her more tired than she'd been.


	12. Chapter Twelve

**Escape**

by malko050987

**Chapter Twelve**

Disclaimer: I don't. Nuh uh. Nope. Not me. Jo does, tho. It's all hers. I'm just playing with her toys.

A/N: Many thanks to LunaMoon224 for the awesome beta job she has done on every chapter of this. Three cheers for her! Also, many thanks to everybody who reviewed :) You make me happy. And when I'm happy, I write. Everybody wins :D

A/N2: After some deliberation, I decided on the pairing of this story. It's not what I originally planned, but after talking with Luna, we agree that it will be a good ship. Because some of the things in this chapter might me misleading, I want to make it clear that it will not be Harry/Hermione.

A/N2: I have set up some forums, for chatter about my stories, answering questions and offering suggestions. Check them out, the link is in my profile.

--

The following two weeks, Harry threw himself into his training. He would be the first to rise, and the last to go to sleep. During that time, he built up his endurance and speed, as well as his physical strength, through the training with Dudley and Tonks. Dudley was impressed at the dedication Harry showed, and let his competitive spirit kick in. After only a few days, the two boys would compete against each other, under the amused supervision of Tonks.

The young woman corresponded daily with Remus and the twins, relating to Harry any important information and discoveries the three made. They progressed little in the research about the potions, but managed to find out that Hermione was abroad and would be returning two weeks before the start of school.

Harry's training with the Keeper progressed to the point where he was able to activate the magic sight with a brief period of concentration, less than a minute. He still had a slight trouble adjusting the color so it fit the spells, but he was managing. Working with natural magic became second nature to him.

The night of the 15th of August, Harry was down by the stream, leaning against Dudley. The other boy was staring at the sky while Harry eyed the waters of the stream, lost in thought. As he watched the waters flow, smoothly gliding over the rocky riverbed, ever-changing, he was struck by a realization.

Since mastering magic sight, he had been wondering what the Keeper meant by forging his own tale. He had thought that there was a spell, or more training in something, but had been reluctant to ask. Now, he realized that there was no more training involved. There was nothing more special to learn, in order to "tell his tale".

All he had to do was live. Live his own way, make his own decisions.

Smiling brightly for the first time since his birthday, he stood up, unbalancing Dudley, and poked the other boy in the ribs. "Race you up!" he called, taking off. He was easily faster than Dudley, but Dudley was stronger, and he would certainly lose a wrestling match if it came to that. And usually, when Harry refrained from using magic, Dudley won.

--

The morning of the 16th, Harry was practicing his morning Occlumency exercises when Tonks bounded into his room. She silenced when she saw what he was doing sat in the recently restored armchair.

A few minutes later, Harry finished his exercises and looked curiously at Tonks. Wordlessly, she held up a parchment, grinning at him when he created a brief gust of wind to float the letter to him. He opened it quickly, noticing that the seal had been opened before, most likely by Tonks. He saw the familiar handwriting and gulped. Was he ready for this?

Tonks saw his hesitation and climbed next to him in bed, putting a friendly arm around his shoulders. Taking a deep breath, he began reading.

_Dear Harry,_

_I am so sorry, I never knew what Ginny was up to. I thought that she was behaving a little odd around you, but I never thought she would do something like that. I hope you'll forgive me for not telling you what I thought. I can't believe she would even considering using something like that potion. She could go to Azkaban for it. _

_How are you, Harry? Are you okay? I'm sure you're not. I do hope you're talking with somebody. Not just about this. About other things, as well. You know what I'm talking about. Just so you know, you can always count on me if you need somebody to talk to. I'll keep your secrets. _

_Remus told me that you ran away with Tonks and Dudley. Is that true? Why is Dudley with you? Can you trust him? What happened to him? Remus said he looked different. He wouldn't explain more, though. _

_Fred and George told me to stay away from Ron, but wouldn't explain very much about it. I have never seen them so serious, Harry, and I don't think they have reason to lie to me. I will remain with my parents all summer, making only a visit to Diagon Alley next Saturday. Can you come and meet me there? I would love to see you, and talk about this. There is so much I don't know, and nobody can tell me anything, only that I'm in danger from people I thought were my friends. _

_Being this cut off brings home how we made you feel last summer. But, for you it was probably worse. I'm sorry. We couldn't say anything important because we were afraid you'd get hurt because of it._

_Enough of the sad topics. We visited France this summer. It was lovely! I saw the Eiffel Tower, and after that we went south, to the sea. There are some very interesting museums about sea-life there, and we even visited a magical one, with all sorts of creatures, including mermaids. The clerk there taught me a translation spell so we could speak mermish underwater. I had so much fun. They're fascinating, and I talked with the mermaid there for a while. I never knew Gillyweed felt like that. I'd read about, it of course, but the sensation wasn't what I expected. _

_What have you done this summer? Did you study anything? I know we didn't get any homework, with the OWLs and all, but you should read the textbooks of the courses you know you'll take. I'm certain you'll manage to enter the Defense NEWT classes, as well as Transfiguration and Charms. You should read at least those textbooks. _

_When do you think the OWLs will arrive? I can't wait to see how I did. _

_Oh, Mum's coming and I need to send this off. _

_Write back soon, Harry, and I hope to see you in Diagon Alley on Saturday._

_Love,_

_Hermione_

Harry re-read the letter, almost seeing Hermione's face as she talked. A half-smile appeared on his lips and Tonks climbed off the bed after squeezing his shoulder lightly. He whispered his thanks and she grinned at him.

--

_Dear Hermione,_

_I'd love to come to Diagon Alley on Saturday. Tonks will come too, as well as Dudley. I will tell you about what I learned this summer then. Tonks taught me some of the Defense curriculum, so I should have a head start on that. _

_I didn't study any of the other subjects, but I _have_ been studying, and I hope you'll be pleased when you see what I have achieved. You'll be surprised, I can tell you that. _

_I spent most of this summer training, but I enjoyed myself, despite the very disturbing news and revelations in regards to the Weasleys. I'm glad you're still on my side. I don't know what I would do if you too left me. _

_Looking forward to seeing you on Saturday,_

_Harry_

_PS: Try to avoid Dumbledore, Molly is controlling him somehow, and she might make him do something to you._

_--_

_Dear Harry,_

_I'm glad to hear that you studied, even if it wasn't particularly school related. Any studying is good, especially for you and your trouble-attracting ways. _

_Dumbledore wasn't around here, and I doubt he knows where I live, as McGonagall was the one who visited me when I received my Hogwarts letter. _

_Oh! The OWL results just arrived. I'll stop writing so I can look at them. _

_I got eleven OWLS! I am so happy! I have an Exceeds Expectations in Defense Against the Dark Arts, though. I received ten Oustandings! I'm sure I would have failed Defense if it weren't for you and the DA, Harry, so thank you again for accepting to run it. You helped a lot of people with it. _

_I have to end this now, because Mum wants to take me out for an ice cream, to celebrate. _

_Make sure to tell me your OWL results!_

_Love,_

_Hermione_

_--_

_Dear Hermione_

_You'll be glad to know that Tonks fell of her chair laughing when we got your letter. She's not so clumsy these days, but there is a lot of the old Tonks showing through. I think Sirius' death made her lose some of her happy-go-lucky attitude. _

_My OWL results arrived right after I sent the last letter to you. I would have sent you another letter with them, but I only have Hedwig here. _

_Anyway, because I know you won't be able to read anything else until you see them, here are my results: _

_Astronomy: Acceptable. I think they went easy on us, with the attack on McGonagall and all._

_Care of Magical Creatures: Exceeds Expectations. Hagrid will be so happy with me. _

_Charms: Exceeds Expectations. This is higher than I expected, but I'm glad. _

_Defense Against the Dark Arts: O. No thanks to Umbridge. _

_Divination: Poor. I always knew I'd fail this. At least I'm free of it. _

_Herbology: Exceeds Expectations._

_History of Magic: Dreadful. Well, good riddance to Binns. I think you're the only student with a passing grade in History, Hermione._

_Potions: Exceeds Expectations. Well, no more Snape. At least I know I can brew a potion without him standing behind me._

_Transfiguration: E. This was a surprise. I'm glad, though. I like McGonagall's class, even if it's hard work. I'll definitely continue Transfiguration. I have some ideas, but I'll need your help with them. And Remus', I think._

_To continue what I said above. I'm okay with Sirius being gone. I still miss him, but Tonks helped. Well, we helped each other, more likely. But you can stop worrying about me drowning in depression. He is gone, I miss him, but I'm not going to stop living because of it. He would want me to live, and I will not disappoint him. _

_I don't know how to say this part, but I know I would never be able to talk to you about it, so it's safer in writing. You know the potion Ginny gave me, right? If you don't, ask Remus. He knows, and he can explain it better than I can. _

_How can I stop this from being activated? I can't just avoid Ginny, she'll figure that something is wrong. The same thing with Ron. I'm not certain what he is after, but if I suddenly stop avoiding him he'll know something is up and maybe do something drastic. Until Dumbledore is free of the potion effects, we can't give that away. Tonks talked with the twins and Remus, and we decided to pretend that I don't know anything. _

_They will maintain the rift with their family, of course. I don't think Fred and George will ever be able to step foot in the Burrow again. According to Remus, they're considering changing their shop name, and take out the Weasley part. They haven't done that yet, but it shows how they feel._

_If possible, could you help Remus look for whatever potion Dumbledore took? Something has to be somewhere, and you're the best at research. _

_I'll see you tomorrow, and we'll talk more then._

_Your friend,_

_Harry_

_--_

"Harry!" Hermione yelled, engulfing him in a hug as he exited the Floo at the Leaky Cauldron. He returned the hug cheerfully, but broke free when lack of air became an issue.

"Hey, Hermione. It's good to see you," he said, looking at her. She had definitely tanned in France.

"It's good to see you as well, Harry."

She greeted Tonks cheerfully, and nodded slightly at an apprehensive Dudley. She was clearly reminded of the boy Harry had told her about, even if he was looking very different.

After they met Hermione's parents, they made their way to Weasleys' Wizarding Wheezes, where Remus would join them. Harry got a few curious looks but fortunately for them, the Alley wasn't very crowded, and nobody attempted to come closer and talk to Harry.

Once they arrived at number 93, they stopped for a few moments, taking in the garishly decorated storefront. There was a box on a stand and a large sign below it proclaiming that they were free samples. The box was filled with candies of all sorts. Before anybody could stop him, Dudley grabbed a large yellow candy and stuffed it in his mouth.

The next moment, he was a very confused canary and started trilling his annoyance under the chuckles of his friends and Hermione's glare. She huffed disapprovingly and stalked to the shop. A moment later, Dudley was himself again, and he stood close to Harry as they entered the magical joke shop. Harry grinned at Dudley, pointing out a few shelves full of a wide assortment of candies, laughing as Dudley paled.

"Harry!" a voice called.

Harry turned to see Lee Jordan at the register, waving at him. He called back a greeting and continued browsing the merchandise. The Grangers were with him, but Dudley had chosen to remain with Tonks, next to the shop entrance. He was looking decidedly uncomfortable.

After a few minutes, Fred and George exited the back room, grinning cheerfully when they saw Harry and Hermione. They were quickly invited in the room the twins had exited, leaving only Lee to mind the shop. Remus was in the room, with a stack of books in front of him and several other books on the floor next to his chair. Other opened books gave evidence to the twins' activities. A reinforced door opened to one side of the room, and George said that it was their testing and experimenting room.

Once they were done with the greetings and introductions, they made small talk for a few minutes, before Harry motioned Hermione and Remus to a corner for a private chat. Behind a silencing spell, he explained to Remus that Hermione would be able to help him in research, and Remus accepted the offer gratefully. After a few more details, they returned to their seats, Remus sitting next to Tonks.

Harry noticed Tonks' hand grabbing Remus' and raised an eyebrow at her. She simply smiled at him and shrugged. He grinned. From the tone of Remus' letters, he had guessed that there was some attraction between the two, but so far hadn't known if they were officially going out. It seemed that they were.

"Harry, I have a question," Dan Granger said suddenly, breaking out of his conversation with Fred. At Harry's cautious nod, he went on, "Could you tell us what exactly happened in June?" He raised a hand at Hermione's beginning protest. "Hermione, want to know what gave you those scars, and whether you would be safer if we left the country."

Harry looked at Hermione's tearing eyes in panic. What should he tell them? How much had Hermione told them? Before his panic could escalate, he could hear the voice of the Keeper, during one of their long talks. '_Truth is the best choice, even if it hurts, Harry._'

He swallowed, glanced at Hermione and begain to tell the story of his fifth year. He spoke haltingly, hesitanting between truth and half-truth, ordering what he could tell them and what he couldn't. Halfway through, Tonks came over to him and put her arm around him, as she had done several times before, helping him deal with his emotions.

When he was done, he look at the horrified expression on Emma Granger's face and sighed, not daring to look at Hermione's face. _She must be so angry with me now,_ he thought. Tonks squeezed his shoulder one last time and moved back to sit next to Remus.

"Is- is this true?" Emma managed to stutter out, looking with wide eyes at Hermione. Looking very guilty, Hermione nodded and bowed her face, looking very ashamed of herself. In an instant, her mother was at her side, pulling her into a hug as Hermione sobbed into her chest.

"Oh, honey, why didn't you tell us?" Emma murmured in Hermione's hair, rubbing the girl's back.

Hermione muttered something in reply and Emma hugged her tighter. "Hermione, we wouldn't take something so important from you. And you are old enough to decide for yourself."

Harry watched in confusion as the two female Grangers engaged in a whispered conversation for a minute before Hermione looked from her mother's chest and ran to Harry, hugging him for all she was worth. "Thank you," she whispered before breaking off and sitting back in her place.

After a few moments of uncomfortable silence, Dan Granger cleared his throat and addressed Harry.

"Since I'm certain that you are confused, I will explain some things to you. You undoubtedly recall that we wanted to pull Hermione out of Hogwarts a few years ago. At that time, she convinced us that we shouldn't, and we listened to her."

Harry nodded, familiar with the events.

"This summer, we received a report from her Head of House, saying that she had been in an accident and needed to take some potions for a few weeks. We accepted that, and when Hermione didn't tell us what accident it was, we thought that the memory must be traumatic and she simply didn't want to talk about it."

"But this summer, we bought a few wizarding papers," Emma took over. "We read about the battles and Death Eaters, and this You-Know-Who persona, and we decided that we need to make a decision." She smiled at Hermione's panicked look. "We're going to let you go to Hogwarts this year, Hermione. Magic is a large part of you, too large to deny. If we made you go to some other magical school, in France maybe, you would have too many problems adjusting."

Remus nodded in appreciation of Emma's reasoning. It was obvious to Harry as well that Hermione could be a girl who was hard to get close to. If it hadn't been for the troll in their first year, they wouldn't have become friends at all.

"But," Emma's hardened gaze locked on Hermione, "from this day forth, no more keeping secrets."

Hermione nodded weakly and her mother hugged her.

"Hogwarts is the safest place in Britain," Remus offered. "She'll probably be safer there than anywhere else."

Dan nodded. "We know. It's one of the reasons we came to this decision."

The group spent a few minutes talking and relaxing off the tension before Hermione remembered the original purpose of the trip and dragged them out to buy their supplies.

--

Harry finished the large sundae in front of him and leaned back in his chair, grinning at Dudley, who had long finished his. The two of them were sharing a table with Hermione and Remus, while the Grangers and Tonks were at a different table in Florean's parlor.

After a few minutes, Harry excused himself and made his way to the table occupied by the Grangers, to talk with them about Hermione. He knew that despite their words, they were worried about their daughter, and were trying to do what was best for her. It didn't take more than a few minutes to reassure them that he would do his best to protect Hermione at Hogwarts.

He started to head back when Tonks motioned him down and waved her wand at the table now occupied only by Dudley and Hermione. Remus was in the shop, ordering some more ice cream. Harry started when he heard Hermione's voice just as clear as if he was standing next to her.

"...happened?"

Dudley obviously hesitated for a moment before his shoulders slumped. "Last year, that old man from Harry's school came and talked with my parents. He did something to them, and to me, and they began treating me like a slave. I almost died, and Harry saved me." His voice was flat as he recounted obviously painful memories.

"Oh. Well, I didn't know that," Hermione stammered, obviously taken a back by his frank confession. Harry grinned at that. Dudley had changed a lot in the weeks they had been free, gaining a backbone and a tendency for honesty that Harry admired, not having guessed that Dudley was the honest type of person.

After a few seconds in which Hermione fidgeted nervously, Dudley spoke. "I won't betray him, Hermione," he said firmly. "I saw what he did when he heard about what those Weasel women did. He can be very scary." When he saw Hermione's wide-eyed stare, he shrugged and added, "Besides, he saved my life. Why would I betray him?"

Remus chose that moment to return to the table, and Harry joined them as well, pretending not to notice Hermione's slight blush and Dudley's strained smile. After almost an hour of talking, Remus announced that he had to return to his research. Hermione went with him to get some books to look through at home, while Tonks, Harry and Dudley returned to Griffin Island.


	13. Chapter Thirteen

**Escape**

by malko050987

**Chapter Thirteen**

**Disclaimer:**_ I didn't, don't and won't own Harry Potter. This should be obvious by now._

**A/N:**_ Many thanks to LunaMoon224 for all her work on this fic. Also thanks to craziest1 for his beta job. As always, feedback is appreciated. I'll answer questions, most of the time. Sorry for not updating in so long, but college is killing my spare time. I'm still writing, I just don't have time to format and upload stuff. I won't stop updating, but you can expect them to be sparse until summer rolls around. Sorry 'bout that._

--

The weeks that lead up to the first of September passed uneventfully. A search party formed of Order members was looking for Harry, according to Fred and George, but they had no luck finding him.

Hedwig made daily trips between Harry and Hermione, laden with parchment and the occasional book. Hermione wanted to know all about his training and the Keeper, and asked him innumerable questions. Harry, in turn, asked her about normal things, taking comfort in the thought that at least Hermione was having a close-to-normal holiday.

From time to time, Hermione would send Dudley a letter as well, which amused Harry and made Tonks smirk at his cousin. Dudley sent his replies when Harry sent his. Harry was glad to know that Hermione and Dudley were getting to know each other better, although he did his best to make Dudley uncomfortable about it.

The twins made little progress in discovering what potion was affecting the Headmaster, although Hermione did run across mentions of a rare powerful potions text, and was looking in all places where it could be acquired. So far, she hadn't found any clues, and Harry was beginning to think Voldemort had it.

A few days before the trip to King's Cross, Harry was sitting outside the hall, looking at the night sky. After a few minutes, Dudley came out as well, clutching a letter and a piece of blank parchment wrapped around a bright pink pen that Tonks had obviously conjured. She had no concept of normal colors.

Dudley gave him a hesitant smile before setting down a few feet away and writing his letter, pausing often and looking around him, chewing on the end of the pen. Harry guessed that Dudley was writing a letter to Hermione and let the boy work, fully intending to tease him about it later. He returned to his stargazing, sighing suddenly.

"Harry?" Dudley asked almost an hour later. He was done with his letter, and held it out to Harry. "Send this tomorrow?"

Harry grinned at Dudley. "Sure, Dud, I'll deliver your love letter!" he said perkily, adopting a look he'd seen Dobby wear.

Instead of the blushing denial he'd been expecting, Dudley looked at the floor and shrugged uncomfortably. After a minute, he sat back down and motioned for Harry to do the same.

"What's up, Dud?" Harry asked seriously, teasing mood gone.

His cousin sighed and ran a hand through his short blonde hair. "Do you mind that I send letters to Hermione?" he asked suddenly.

Harry was about to give a joking reply, but the seriousness in Dudley's tone held him back. "Of course I don't mind, Dudley," he replied after a moment of thought. "Why would I mind? You're both my friends, and you're both free to do as you want," he explained, shrugging.

Dudley nodded, a pensive expression on his face. He left to his room soon after, leaving Harry to think about his friendship with Hermione and what she meant to him. It was past midnight when he went to sleep.

--

_Dear (recipient's name),_

_Hi Harry, how are you? I am fine, thank you for asking. I am writing this on a paper Daddy got from a Muggle place, it says it's a letter form, but it doesn't do anything when I tap it with my wand, except change color. _

_I'm in Sweden now, we'll be returning to England soon, and I will see you on the train back to Hogwarts, I guess. I have so much to tell you, but it will have to wait. Daddy wants to publish it in the Quibbler first, and then I will tell you all about it. _

_Unfortunately we didn't find any Snorkacks, but we found some nests and an old mating place. I think they may be extinct, but Daddy doesn't agree. According to him, they simply moved on to other planes of existence. _

_I will miss them. _

_So, how have you been? Have you been eating properly? Mum always asked me that in her letter, even if she could simply ask me, since we lived in the same house. In case you want to know, I have been eating more than I should, and I'm certain you will notice it when we meet again. _

_Have you heard from Ginny recently? We did not get to talk before the term ended, and she was always busy with something, even going out at night one time. I know, since I was out as well, watching the sky. Does she have a project in the greenhouses, like Neville has? Only I don't think Neville is allowed in the high danger greenhouse. _

_She must be really brave, to go there. The plants in there are very dangerous. Only Professor Snape enters those greenhouses, and Professor Sprout, of course. I hope Ginny will get some points for what's she doing, because it would be a pity if she didn't do a good job. She's such a nice girl. She talked to me when people hid my things, and was my friend._

_Oh, I have to go now; Daddy says the Muggles are coming._

_See you Harry! Bye!_

_With love,_

_(Your name)_

Harry stared at the white sheet of paper with bemusement. Luna had written all over the printed text of the Muggle letter example, her red ink clearly readable over the black letters. He scowled at the mention of Ginny, and sighed as he realized that Ginny must have gotten some of her ingredients from the greenhouses.

_How do I tell Luna about what Ginny did? _He wondered, setting the parchment on the table in front of him and frowning at his pen. Eventually, he decided to keep his reply innocent, and tell Luna in person. He also decided to keep close to her the following year, because the girl was a good friend to him, and she deserved him to be a friend t her as well.

His decision made, he penned a quick reply, leaving out most of the summer happenings, and gave it with the owl that had delivered Luna's letter. It hooted at him and took off through a window.

The next day, he was surprised when he saw another owl, and even more surprised when the name on the letter was Luna's.

_Dear Harry,_

_How are you? I am sorry for the events at the Ministry, and the loss of your godfather. If there is anything I can do to help, let me know, please, and I will do my best to help you. _

_I am afraid that if you want good news you will have to look away from this paper, as I have precious little good news to tell you. _

_Sit down somewhere before you read this, please. _

_Are you seated? Don't read on until you're seated, and if possible, alone. But I'm sure you're at your relatives' house, and from what I heard about them, you should have no problems being alone there. _

_Anyway, to the news. I am so, so sorry for being the one to tell you this, but Hogwarts will start soon, and I want to tell you this before you arrive there, if you decide to come, after what I will say. _

_I think Ginny Weasley might be poisoning you. _

_There, I said it. I can't believe how hard it was to write those words. Lie I explained in my other letter (sorry for the nutty rambling, by the way), I saw her entering the high danger greenhouse. I followed her, and saw her carrying a tentacle from the Venom Spawn that grows in the greenhouse. I only know of that ingredient to be used in poisons, and I saw her add something to your drink during dinner a few weeks after that, but it wasn't until a few days ago that it clicked. _

_I am so, so sorry that I didn't say anything before that. I just didn't know what to think, and decided to wait and see what happened. When I saw you drinking the spiked juice and smile at her, I thought it was a love potion, and those never last enough, so I wasn't too worried. I should have known better. _

_I don't know what poison she dosed you with, but if there have been no ill effects on your health until now, it's most likely one that will need an activation potion to be set loose. If you don't come to Hogwarts this year, and avoid Ginny, then she will have no way of giving you the activation poison, and you won't die._

_I don't want you to die, Harry. You were kind to me even when I was acting all loony, and didn't think less of me because of it. I don't know why Ginny gave you whatever potion she gave you, but I'm sure it's not for a good reason. _

_Please write back and tell me what you decide, even if what you decide is that I am as loony as everybody says and should be locked up. _

_Your friend,_

_Luna_

Harry stared at the letter with wide eyes. A moment later, he was holding it next to Luna's other letter, comparing the handwriting. Satisfied that the handwriting was the same, he shook his head in bewilderment. Apparently, Luna wasn't as loony as everybody thought.

_Dear Luna,_

_Thank you for both your letters. I am fine at the moment. I'm not at my relatives, but I am in a safe place, with my cousin and one of the Aurors who fought at the Ministry that fateful day. She is a good friend of mine._

_Thank you for your warning. I appreciate the sentiment behind it, and will be a bit more cautious as to what I drink and who I let around my food. I will be coming to Hogwarts, and I need to tell you some discoveries related to what you warned me about. _

_I will avoid my poisoner, although I am certain it wasn't poison. Hopefully, we will manage to talk during the train ride to Hogwarts, or, failing that, after the feast. Some shocking discoveries have been made this summer, and I feel that you should know at least part of them. _

_Your friend,_

_Harry_

--

Harry looked glumly at his empty room. It was the evening of the 31st August, and he, Tonks and Dudley were packed and ready to leave. They would spend the night at the twins' place before Harry would leave to Hogwarts. Tonks would be renting a room at the twins' shop, and would be helping them with the production; since they needed help that they could trust. From there, she would be able to help Remus and the two redheads in their research about the potions.

With their luggage ready next to the fireplace, the trio gathered around the Keeper who had taught them so much in the time they had spent on his island.

"Farewell, changeling," the wizened old man said, toughing Tonks briefly on the arm. To Harry's permanent magic sight there was a very concentrated burst of light before Tonks' aura shifted colors a bit, becoming a very dark gold. He raised an eyebrow at the Keeper, but remained silent as Tonks hugged him.

Dudley shook the Keeper's hand, thanking him for all the help. The old man smiled at Dudley. "You are most welcome, young one. Stay true to your friends, and we shall speak again, at the end of all tales."

Leaving Dudley gaping, the Keeper turned to Harry. "Young Master."

"Teacher."

"I am no longer your teacher. You know all I have to teach. From this moment onward, you shall weave your own tale in the fabric of reality. Make it a happy tale, child." Before Harry could reply, the old man touched his forehead with a wrinkled finger and then vanished. "Goodbye, friends," echoed in the hall, a hall that seemed much emptier than before.

"Wait-"

His shoulders slumping, Harry turned to his two companions. "Come on; let's get to the Leaky Cauldron while Tom still has free rooms."

--

The morning of September first dawned bright and early; which, in Dudley's case, was the worst thing a morning could do. He tried shaking off the hand that was trying to wake him, but gave up when it only shook him harder.

"Come on Dudley, or you'll miss Hermione when she comes to meet me so we can go to school!" Harry teased as he pondered getting a glass of water to douse Dudley with.

"I'm up!" Dudley exclaimed, rolling out of bed and falling in a heap of sheets and limbs on the floor. Five minutes later, he was grabbing the arm of an amused Harry and dragging him downstairs.

Tonks, Remus and the twins met them at a table where they had a quiet breakfast while discussing their plans for the school year. The twins had offered to rent Tonks a room if she helped with their products, something she accepted gratefully. Remus was occupying the other guest bedroom; something that Harry privately thought had influenced Tonks' decision more than the need for a place to live and a job.

The foursome would keep up their research while Harry and Hermione were at Hogwarts. Dudley was going to work for the twins, but after a brief negotiation with Tom, he would be staying at the Leaky Cauldron. The money Fred and George paid him allowed him enough money for the room fee and he would have plenty extra to spend on himself. All parties included in the negotiation had been satisfied with that arrangement.

"Harry!" a voice exclaimed suddenly. A moment later, he had a facefull of bushy hair as Hermione attempted to strangle the life out of him.

"Nice seeing you too, Hermione," he croaked after she let him go and greeted the other people seated at the table. Harry grinned as he saw Hermione kiss Dudley on the cheek making the boy blush profusely.

"Ickle Duddykins is a big man now!" Fred chortled when he saw his blush.

"Where are your parents, Hermione?" Harry asked, changing the subject from what was sure to become a teasing session of the two. He had no problems with Dudley and Hermione liking each other, but he didn't want either of them to move to fast, or for the wrong reasons.

They were five minutes late at the station, and Harry groaned as he saw the back of a slim redheaded figure vanishing through the wall that led to Platform 9 3/4. He and Hermione said their goodbyes to the adults and Dudley, and turned to face the barrier.

"Okay, so no allowing Ginny Weasley to kiss me," Harry said to himself, mock-glaring at Hermione when she giggled.

"No allowing Ginny to kiss Harry. Got it," a voice said behind them suddenly, before Hermione could reply. They turned quickly, Harry narrowing his eyes slightly, bringing forth his magic sight, prepared to block any hex or curse thrown his way.

"Oh. Hey, Luna," he said cheerfully, pulling the girl in a hug, rolling his eyes at Hermione's curious gaze.

"Hey, Harry," Luna said with equal cheerfulness. "Nice seeing you, Hermione," she continued.

Hermione stared at the blonde for a few moments, as if waiting for something else. "What's wrong, Hermione?" Harry asked. Luna simply grinned and tugged on his arm. "Come on, or we'll be late!"

Glancing at a thoughtful Hermione, Harry was dragged through the barrier, and before he knew it, he and Luna were in an empty compartment. "How did you do that?" he asked Luna with wide eyes.

"Daddy got his hands on the list of charms that is on the Knight Bus. I use a variation of those, it allows me to move through crows with ease, and I'm not noticed."

"Can you teach me?" Hermione said from the doorway. She had obviously heard Luna's explanation.

"Sure!" the blonde replied.

"Hermione, is Harry there?" a voice called from the open window of the train. Glancing questioningly at Harry, she poked her head out the window. "Yes, Mrs. Weasley, we just arrived and wanted to be on the train before it left."

"Oh, good. I'll just hop on and see him," the woman said. Fortunately, the train whistled at that moment and the red engine started moving.

"Goodbye, Mrs. Weasley!" Hermione called as the train picked up speed.

A few minutes later, a red-faced Ron dragged his trunk in the compartment, followed by Ginny, who immediately took a seat next to Harry and put her hand on his leg.

"Where have you been all summer, Harry?" Ron asked after the obligatory greetings. "Everybody's been going crazy to find you. Owls weren't able to find you; they wouldn't even take letters addressed to you."

He sighed at the memories of the early summer, hoping his face was sad enough to make them believe that he was not in as very cheerful mood, so they would leave him alone. "Well, at the beginning of the summer, me and Dudley ran away, because of some problem with his parents. We spent the time in the Muggle world, which is why I guess that owl couldn't reach us. Before, you ask, no, I won't tell you where we were, because Dudley is still there, and I promised him to keep his secret."

"Why? I thought you hated that little pig," Ron commented, and Harry saw Hermione suppress a scathing remark, most likely related to Ron's eating habits.

"Well, things have changed this summer," he said, refusing to say anything else on the matter. Eventually, the topic turned to other things. Ron and Hermione went to their Prefect meeting, and Luna was snoring lightly under an upside-down Quibbler.

"So, Harry, what have you been doing this summer?" Ginny said in a low tone, turning his head so he would face her.

"Well, we were in a Muggle place, so anything relating to magic was impossible. Dudley's a boxer, and he decided to make an opponent out of me," he said lightly, turning his head to look at the snoring form of the Ravenclaw. "I think she'll get a crick in her neck if she sleeps like that for a long time. I'd better wake her."

"She's slept like that in History, it never hurt her," Ginny said. Her hand tightened on his leg and he couldn't get up without telling her to let go of him, which would have made her suspicious. So he shrugged and returned to staring out the window. Ginny made a low impatient noise behind him, and he suppressed a smirk.

"Harry- I-" Her voice was soft, as if she was close to crying, but he knew it was false. Still he had to play the role; at least until they were at Hogwarts and he'd be able to avoid her properly.

"What's wrong, Ginny?" he asked her, turning to face her again. She had lowered her head and was looking at him through her eyelashes. When he simply stared at her, she glanced at his lips and slowly licked her lower lip.

Ignoring her actions, he lowered his voice slightly, adding a threat to his tone. "Did Dean hurt you?" he asked.

He really wanted to laugh as her face cycled through embarrassed, angry and shocked several times before settling on a relatively calm expression. She didn't reply to his question, just shook her head. He shrugged and went back to staring out the window, repressing a happy cheer when she took her hand of his leg and moved away from him on the seat.


End file.
